Zizou reflects on ‘tough few days’

Real Madrid coach Zinedine Zidane praised his side's ability to withstand pressure after they ended a troubling week of results by beating Sevilla 1-0 away from home on Saturday in La Liga.

An own goal by Sevilla keeper Bono handed Madrid victory and the perfect response to losing against Alaves last weekend and Wednesday's defeat to Shakhtar Donetsk, which endangered their chances of qualifying from their Champions League group.

"We've earned three very important points but the most important thing is the performance," Zidane said after a first league win in four games.

Zidane, who led Real to the Spanish title last season, had to swallow speculation during the week that president Florentino Perez was looking to sack him after their poor start to the campaign.

Real need to beat Borussia Moenchengladbach on Wednesday to guarantee their place in the Champions League knockout stage and then face La Liga frontrunners Atletico Madrid.

"The last few days have been very tough but this team has a lot of character and loves challenges. Today's victory is very important for what is coming next," he added. "We know that whenever we don't play well there will be criticism but we have to focus on the positives and keep trying to be consistent. But we can't worry about what people say about us because that's not going to change."