Zinedine Zidane Insists Real Madrid Deserved Win Over Real Sociedad Amidst 'Questionable' Officiating

Real Madrid is back at the top of the La Liga race after fending off Real Sociedad on Sunday. But the victory is not without controversy as critics slammed the officiating during the match. Zinedine Zidane, while glad about the win, still took offense at the criticism as he insisted the Los Blancos deserved the win.

Madrid pulled off a 2-1 win to move past Barcelona by virtue of a head-to-head advantage. But a “bothered” Zidane emerged after the match, saying he is tired of the scrutiny that is aimed to discredit their performance on the field.

"What bothers me is that in the end we only talk about the referees, it seems that we have not done anything on the field," said Zidane during the post-match news conference, via Goal.

"But we are not going to control the controversy. We won on the field and I think the victory is deserved."

The Los Blancos seemingly got the favor and took advantage of missed and erroneous calls during the match, where they were able to establish a cushion via a penalty from Sergio Ramos and a goal at the 70^th minute from Karim Benzema.

But Zidane is firm in his belief that his club won the match fair and square as he stressed that a referee’s judgment is beyond his control.

"There is a penalty and I think that for the goal, Karim touches it with his shoulder,” the 47-year-old added. “These are things of the referee and as always I do not get involved, he does his job and nothing else. I have to respect these things and think only about what we did.

"It is a deserved victory, which is the most important thing for us."

Real Madrid has remained unscathed after their last three games following the break caused by the Coronavirus pandemic. The club is set to host Mallorca on Wednesday.

Shifting his mood, Zidane heaved a sigh relief as he heaped praises on his club for taking the challenge and prevailing at a “difficult” Anoeta Stadium.

"A win, three points at a difficult stadium. We had a complicated match to play until the end," he said.

"We were playing well, creating chances but this doesn't mean anything. We saw how complicated the last 10-15 minutes were. But the feeling I'm left with is the effort and the intensity and the attitude we had from the start. And in the end, we leave a difficult stadium with three points. It's a deserved victory."

Madrid has a total of eight games left to play and is looking to drop the hammer aimed to fix its supreme status as the season winds down.