Zinedine Zidane admits his midfield changes put Real Madrid off-balance

 MIDFIELD CHANGES PUT MADRID OFF-BALANCE

      Real Madrid coach Zinedine Zidane admitted he had taken risks with his starting lineup after his side's helter-skelter 5-1 Champions League Group F win at home to group outsiders Legia Warsaw on Tuesday evening.

Madrid were always likely to take the three points in a strange game at the Estadio Santiago Bernabeu -- with Gareth Bale, Marco Asensio, Lucas Vazquez, Alvaro Morata and a Tomasz Jodlowiec own goal on their side of the scoresheet, and Miroslav Radovic's penalty counting as the consolation for the visitors.
The first half especially was a shootout with both sides taking turns to attack, and the Polish visitors finding it surprisingly easily to breach Madrid's porous midfield, stricking a post at 0-0 and later testing home keeper Keylor Navas on more than one occasion.
The Los Blancos coach told a news conference afterwards that his decision to play attack-minded Asensio and James Rodriguez in a three-man midfield had affected the balance of his side.
"The good thing is that we made many chances to score and scored five goals," Zidane said. "I am happy with the attacking performances. We played a very offensive XI and that meant more risks.
"Defensively, the balance of the team was not perfect sometimes. They did not really make chances, but were able to counter-attack easily sometimes.
"But that was the option taken and we played a bit more attacking today. Sunday will be another game and a different team."
Cristiano Ronaldo had two assists but did not join in on the scoring fun, having nine shots in total but just two on target in another frustrating display.

The Portuguese superstar has now scored just one of Madrid's past 13 goals in all competitions, but Zidane said he was not concerned, pointing out CR7 had provided the pass for Asensio and Morata's goals tonight.
"I did not say anything special to Cristiano after the game," he said. "Sometimes we expect a lot from him. In a game like this we want him to score three or four times. But he provided two assists, even if he did not score today. I also like that. That is part of his game too.
"It is true we expect more from him as he is Cristiano, and he knows that. He scored on Saturday, and he will score next weekend I hope."
With three young Spaniards on the scoresheet in Asensio, Morata and Lucas Vazquez, local reporters pressed Zidane on whether they would get more chances to start games in the future, but the Frenchman responded by pointing to his "BBC" strikeforce of Ronaldo, Bale and Karim Benzema.
"The [young Spaniards] did very well, not just in the game today, but with their work all week," Zidane said. "We will have many games and all players will get chances. But I am happy with what the three up front are doing."
Borussia Dortmund's 2-1 win at Sporting Lisbon in the night's other Group F encounter means that Madrid and Dortmund remain locked at the top of the group on seven points from their first three outings.
Asked if the group was now a two-horse race, Zidane said he expected it would be until the Bundesliga side came to Madrid on Dec. 7.
"It seems that way, at least until we play them at the Bernabeu," the Frenchman said.