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Finally, the Champions of Europe have arrived to Centre Nutrilait.
Real Madrid trained in Montreal for the first time, this Monday morning, at the Impact’s state-of-the-art facilities – and Madridista madness has taken over the city.
A crowd gathered on the sidewalks of Rue Notre-Dame in the hope of catching a glimpse of the Benzemas, Iscos, Varanes and Navases that have made this preseason trip. Representatives of the media were numerous, as well, in the Centre Nutrilait auditorium for a press conference with the head coach of the most recent UEFA Champions League winner, Zinédine Zidane – who pulled off some fine moves before training in front of assistant David Bettoni.
A delegate of the Madrid media team has already told Impact Media that the club had been given a “perfect welcome” by the Impact, and Zidane was just as satisfied.
“I spent a lot of time here on vacation when I was a player,” Zidane said. “I enjoy Montreal, but I also moved around Canada a lot, and I love the atmosphere, the landscape. I love this country.”
“We could go to many places, but this year, I’m very pleased that we came to Canada,” Zidane continued. “I know this place. They speak French. This is a magnificent place, a place where – and here’s the most important for me – we can work well. I think that we’ve got lovely facilities here to work, as well as two magnificent fields next to each other.”
And these facilities welcome the first stage of quite a busy preseason – with three International Champions Cup games – for which Real Madrid club president Florentino Pérez travelled to Montreal.
“There are many important things, but the most important is work,” Zidane said. “We have 10 days to work here. It’s always tough to go through 10 days of hard work and then three games. Work remains the most important thing.”
