Real Madrid manager Zinedine Zidane has expressed his satisfaction after the 2-1 win over Granada on Monday took them on the verge of winning the La Liga 2019-20 title. Zidane also lauded Los Blancos players for registering their ninth-straight win on the trot.

“We produced a very good first-half performance, in which our possession was impressive and we scored two really fine goals. Our second-half display wasn’t as good and we had to dig in a bit because we were up against a great side. If you want to achieve big things you have to suffer and what I take away with me is how the players dug in and showed we could hold out as a team,” Zidane was quoted as saying on the official website of Real Madrid.

“You’ve got to be really proud of the team because it’s not easy to get nine wins in nine games. We can’t ask for anymore. It was a deserved win and we’re really happy. We’ve got two games to go and we haven’t won anything yet. That’s the truth. We’ve picked up three extremely important points, but we play again on Thursday and we’ve got to recover properly. We’re excited about trying to win LaLiga and everything that lies ahead. We’re close but we haven’t achieved the objective yet,” he added.

With just two matches remaining Los Blancos stand at the top of the points table and will be crowned champions if they beal Villarreal at home on Thursday irrespective of what Barcelona do.

Even if Madrid slip up against Villarreal, they will have one more chance on Sunday in their last league game of the season against Alaves.

However, it was not easy for Real Madrid as they were made to sweat by the Granada team. After Ferland Mendy and Karim Benzema had taken their team 2-0 up, Darwin Machis had returned one back in the second half at Los Carmenes Stadium.

“We prepare to try and win all our games and it’s not easy to win nine games in a row in LaLiga, which is the toughest league of them all. There are no easy games, but we always believe we can win because we’ve got the quality to do so. I’m proud of the players because they’re the ones who battle and, in the second half, we showed we could dig in together and that’s important.

“After three months stuck at home they give you a chance to play again and you try to prepare well and that’s what we did. There are people here ready to contribute like in tonight’s match, but there are two matches left to play and on Thursday we want to try to win the game,” Zidane explained.