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Zidane pleased with return
MADRID (Reuters) -- Zinedine Zidane was happy with his performance after returning to European action in Real Madrid's 1-1 Champions League draw against AS Roma on Wednesday. "Overall I am pretty satisfied with my debut in the Champions League at the Bernabeu," said the Frenchman who played his first European game after completing a five-match ban incurred while playing for Juventus in last season's competition. Zidane received the suspension after being sent off for head-butting Hamburg SV's Jochen Kientz last October, his second successive red card in Champions League matches. The world's most expensive player gave a realistic assessment of a match that guaranteed Real top spot in group A and sent the Italian side through to the last 16. "I think a draw was a fair result," he said. "And it was a good one for us as the priority was to qualify and make sure the fans enjoyed a good game of football. With Zidane orchestrating affairs in midfield, Real dominated the early exchanges of an absorbing encounter. But it was Roma who took the lead against the run of play when Francesco Totti stabbed in from close range in the 35th minute. The Italian champions then took control and Argentine striker Gabriel Batistuta had several chances to extend their lead, but Real responded by pushing forward in search of an equalizer. Their reward came when the referee awarded a 75th-minute penalty, which Luis Figo converted to ensure the home side maintained their unbeaten record in the Champions League. "In the first 20 minutes we played well and had several chances to score, but after Totti's goal we were put under a lot of pressure," Zidane said. "Roma are a difficult team to play against and have some very high quality players, so a draw was a good result for us." Zidane stressed that with first place in the group guaranteed Real would now have to focus on the Spanish league. "Now we must concentrate on improving our position in the table and it is vital that we try and gain some ground on the leaders," he said. Real have won just two of their league nine games this season and lie in 15th position in the 20-team first division, 10 points adrift of leaders Deportivo Coruna.
Copyright 2003 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved.
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