"Modric mustn't be weighed down"

Zinedine Zidane was asked at a press conference about Luka Modric, Real Madrid's top performer against Betis last week and one of the more outstanding players over the past few games.

Zidane expressed his admiration for Modric, and indicated that their relationship is very different from the one Modric had with the recently departed Rafa Benítez.

"He brings a lot of things to the table. He is a top-quality player. I don't want to weigh him down with a load of instructions", Zidane said. "He knows what he has to do; he is very good; I only ask him for a bit of work in defence".

"They are all high-quality players, and that is very lucky for me. And specifically, Modric controls the outside of his foot in a way that greatly impresses me".