Real Madrid rely on tactical strategy as they beat Barcelona 2-0 in El Clasico at Santiago Bernabeu, their first time since 2014.
Brazilian teenager Vinicius Jr scored the opener in the 71st minute with a strike that deflected off Gerard Pique, as goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen was caught off guard despite making a few jaw-dropping saves.
Real condemned Barcelona to the defeat as substitute Mariano, who made his first start after a long-term injury, scored in the injury time.
Real’s victory means they are on 56 points after 26 games, with Barca on 55.
“We deserve our victory for everything we did, in attack and defence,” Zidane told reporters.
“It has been a complicated week for us and we had the chance to turn things around and we did that.
“But this win also doesn’t change anything. We have a long way to go and we have to continue. We’ve got three important points but we’ll have more difficult games and we will be criticised again.”
Barcelona have been dominant in the entire game and could have taken the lead twice but poor finishing were letting them down.
“We played very well in the first half then in an unfortunate move they score thanks to a deflection. We had a great chance to open up a big gap but it wasn’t to be,” he said.
“There’s a long way to go in the season and we have to remember the positive things and how well we played in the first half.”