Zidane accepted responsibility for Los Blancos' below-par display in the first half of their derby victory over Rojiblancos.
Zinedine Zidane admitted his Real Madrid side were sluggish in the first half of their 1-0 win over rivals Atletico Madrid at the Bernabeu.
Atleti looked like they were going to bounce back to winning ways with their display in the first-half, but the game changed in the second half when the Los Blancos boss replaced Toni Kroos and Isco [at half-time] with Lucas Vazquez and Vinicius Junior respectively.
The change seemed to have a positive impact within a minute as Karim Benzema converted a Ferland Mendy cross into the net.
“I wasn’t happy with what I saw on the pitch in the first half,” Zidane said at the post-match press conference.
“It wasn’t the players’ fault. It was mine. So I changed Isco and Kroos, but I could have changed two others players.
“It was just that we needed to make a change to play in a different manner, we were much better in all aspects afterwards.
“There was more intensity, but I repeat, the responsibility for the first half is mine.”