Football
Dermot Corrigan, Madrid correspondent 7y

Real Madrid must find solutions after more dropped points - Zinedine Zidane

Real Madrid coach Zinedine Zidane admitted his team "did not play well" and "must find solutions" after Saturday's 1-1 home draw with Levante.

A much-rotated Madrid team fell behind after 12 minutes when Levante winger Ivi took advantage of slack home defending.

They equalised on 36 minutes when Lucas Vazquez swept in a rebound after Raul had pushed away a Sergio Ramos header.

But despite dominating possession, Madrid struggled to create clear chances through the second half, with substitute Gareth Bale again whistled by the Bernabeu crowd.

A late flurry saw Bale head inches wide and Marcelo sent off for kicking out at Levante midfielder Lerma, while Toni Kroos hit the post in injury time.

Following a 2-2 draw with Valencia, Madrid have dropped four points from the first three games of their title defence, and Zidane told a news conference they had paid for a sluggish start.

"We cannot be happy with what we did today," he said. "Against Valencia we dropped two points, but played well. We must find solutions -- we did not play well. We were missing many things.

"We needed to start with more intensity, and we did not do that. The second half was better, but still not enough."

The coach said Madrid needed to be "more effective" with the chances they created but added: "There is no need to get worried. We are not happy today, but we will analyse things and prepare for the next game."

Centre-forward Karim Benzema limped off midway through the first half with an apparent muscle injury that makes him a doubt for Wednesday's Champions League Group H opener against Apoel Nicosia.

Replacement Bale again looked below his best, appearing uncomfortable as a central striker and missing chances.

Asked whether the departure of Alvaro Morata for Chelsea had left the squad short, Zidane said: "We cannot change that now, we have the squad we have.

"We need to look for solutions within the squad. Karim is injured, hopefully not too bad. Cristiano [Ronaldo] will play on Wednesday. Then we will see on Sunday [at Sociedad] -- it is unlikely that Karim will be back."

Marcelo's straight red card was Madrid's third sending off of the season, with president Florentino Perez calling last week for a shake-up of how referees are appointed and judged in La Liga.

But Zidane preferred not to criticise Alejandro Jose Hernandez and added: "I am not going to say anything. He does the best he can, and I don't get into this. I don't say anything."

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