Zidane denies telling Real Madrid players that he is leaving

Real Madrid manager Zinedine Zidane does not typically address rumours surrounding him or his players, but this time he has had enough. Following his side's victory against Athletic Club at San Mames on Sunday, Zidane has slammed reports saying that he has told his players that he plans to leave at the end of the season.

Los Blancos kept their title defence alive with a 1-0 victory against Bilbao, and Zidane said in the post-match press conference that his sole focus is fighting for the title until the very end. He flat out denied earlier reports that claimed that he has already bid his players goodbye during a locker room meeting last week.

"How am I going to tell my players that I am leaving now, when we are putting everything on the line?" he said, before slamming the reports from outsiders. "When you say things from the outside, you can say whatever you want. I am not ever going to say that to my players," he continued.

Real Madrid now sits two points behind city rivals Atletico, with just one match left to play. Zidane is determined to win against Villarreal on Sunday, and will be hoping for Atletico to drop points. The chances are slim, with the leaders facing Valldolid who are battling to get out of relegation.

"We are going to play our match and we are going to have a difficult match against Villarreal, so we have to concentrate on ourselves," said Zidane.

However, even though he denied that such a meeting took place in the locker room, Zidane did not say that he isn't leaving. He simply clarified that the decision is to be made once the season is over, not before. "At the end of the season we will see, but now I am in this and am focused on the last match. We cannot talk constantly about my future, the most important thing is the last match that we have to play," he said.