Zidane 'would leave tomorrow' if Madrid players lost faith in him

Zinedine Zidane insists he "would leave tomorrow" if he had seen any sign of Real Madrid players' faith in him being shaken following a dreadful run of form.

Madrid were dumped out of the Copa del Rey quarter-finals by Leganes on Wednesday, losing 2-1 at home in the second leg as their visitors went through on away goals after a 2-2 aggregate draw.

It came as a bitter blow to Zidane, as many had suggested the Copa represented his side's most realistic opportunity for success this term, having fallen well adrift of Barcelona in LaLiga and drawing free-scoring Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League.

Madrid return to league action on Saturday, though their task involves trying to take three points from Mestalla against a Valencia team sat directly above them in the table.

Zidane's men go into the match a whopping 19 points behind pacesetters Barca, who have played a game more, but the head coach remains optimistic in the face of adversity, adamant he would simply leave if he felt there was no way of getting his messages across to his players anymore.

"No, if I thought that I would leave tomorrow," he told reporters at his pre-match news conference on Friday.

"These aren't excuses; it's part of football. Sometimes you need to go through lows to experience the highs. We need to keep going, dust ourselves off.

"Look at life; bad things happen. We just need to have that desire to change things. I feel strong and able – if I didn't, that'd be a problem.

"Nobody can take my motivation to keep going away from me, working until the last day.

"We take each day as it comes. I could sign a ten-year contract, but that doesn't mean anything – it's all about taking it one day at a time and the work you put in.

"I've been here two years and I still have the energy and drive. We'll see in June what happens."

It was put to Zidane that the club's pre-season planning in the transfer market is potentially the cause of Madrid's troubles, as they allowed strong rotation options such as Alvaro Morata, James Rodriguez, Danilo, Pepe and Mariano Diaz to leave.

On top of that, the only players they spent money on – Theo Hernandez and Dani Ceballos – have made very little impact on the first-team, but Zidane insists he is happy with their transfer business.

"I wouldn't have changed a thing," he said. "I accept that whatever happened is done.

"We just have to turn things around here and when I signed before start of season I was very happy with the squad at my disposal.

"It's a younger squad with a bright future. They have to learn, but I'm here giving 100 per cent."