Zinedine Zidane Issues Plea to Fans After Real's Emphatic 7-1 Destruction of Deportivo

Real Madrid boss Zinedine Zidane has encouraged Los Blancos fans to create a positive atmosphere at the Santiago Bernabéu, after his side recorded their first home league win in four attempts with an emphatic 7-1 thrashing of Deportivo de La Coruña on Sunday.

Relegation-threatened Deportivo took a shock lead in Madrid through Lopez's 23rd minute finish, but Real, who had failed to score in their two previous home games, roared back with three braces from Nacho, Ronaldo and Bale, plus a Luka Modric strike.

The three points move Zidane's side above Villarreal and up to 4th in the table - they now find themselves 16 points behind La Liga leaders Barcelona. 

Speaking after the game, the Frenchman was delighted with the clinical performance and how his side reacted to going a goal behind. 

“We started strongly but we switched off from the throw-in and they got their goal. But we focused on playing our game and we managed to find two goals which allowed us to play as we did in the second half," Zidane told Real Madrid reporters.

"Overall, we're very happy with the match. We weren't at our best in recent games at home, but we played well against Villarreal and today we converted our chances."

The former Madrid player also reserved praise for the fans, saying: “We want the fans to be behind us in every game. We need them when things are going well, and also when they're not so good. They responded brilliantly today. It's a team mentality: the players and the fans. 

"I know what it's like to be jeered at this stadium and it's not easy. We want positive energy from the stands and we picked up a great result for them.

"We're now going to focus on our next game and putting in a good performance, as we did today. I'm not looking any further ahead. It's now back-to-back wins and we're focused on the third game and extending that run. That's all we're thinking about," Zidane continued. 

"We all needed a performance like that. It's not every day that you score seven at home and we needed it".

Zidane will be hoping his side can deliver a similar performance when they next face Leganes at the Bernabeu in the second leg of the Copa de Rey quarter final on Wednesday; Real won the first leg 1-0 thanks to Marco Asensio's 90th minute strike.