Real Madrid manager Zinedine Zidane said that Colombian superstar James Rodriguez has to learn from his mistakes after he was spotted laughing in the first half during Real Madrid’s 2-0 loss against Wolfsburg.
But, while his future is uncertain, Zidane insists the Colombian must learn his lessons.
"I'd like to avoid it. You learn from these things. It's an episode that nobody likes, but we have to put it to one side," he told reporters. "It's difficult. He knows that, he knows that things like this can be picked up in two or three seconds.
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"He has to learn from these things. What happened does not have a huge influence on what happens now."
James has not been haapy with his reduced playtime and many reports have linked him with a move away from the Santiago Bernabeu during the summer.
Zidane blames Clasico exertions for loss against Wolfsburg
Los Blancos looked jaded right throughout as goals from Ricardo Rodriguez and Maximillian Arnold left them with a mountain to climb in the second leg.
Benzema also got injured in yesterday’s match in what turned out to be a crushing blow after the high of Saturday’s Clasico triumph. Zidane felt that exertions in the Clasico were partly to blame for their performance, although he was still confident of a comeback in the second leg.
"Perhaps physically, yes," Zidane told a news conference when asked if Madrid had struggled to play at their best after the Clasico.
"We didn't start with the right amount of intensity for a Champions League game. They did. In football you make errors and we didn't start with intensity.
"What we have done recently has been positive and I'm not going to go crazy.
"Being Real Madrid we are capable of great things."
The Real Madrid manager also took full responsibility for the loss
"I have all the responsibility, total, as coach," Zidane said. "We will watch the game again, and analyse it. I am very proud of my players. I am responsible, and must look to see what happened. And I will do that. We had chances, the only thing is we did not get what we wanted here. It is 2-0 and we must accept that. It hurts as we knew it would be difficult, but nobody, including me, expected this."
