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Zinedine Zidane eyes Club World Cup glory to kickstart season

Zinedine Zidane says that winning the Club World Cup for a second year in a row "will not be easy", as Real Madrid prepare to face Al Jazira in Wednesday's semi-final.

Real Madrid manager Zinedine Zidane has targeted back-to-back Club World Cup crowns to kickstart his side's flagging campaign.

Los Blancos have yet to truly get going domestically, finding themselves in fourth place and eight points adrift of La Liga leaders Barcelona after dropping points in six of their 15 games.

Zidane's men also finished second to Tottenham Hotspur in their Champions League group, setting up a daunting last-16 tie against Paris Saint-Germain in February, though they have already added the UEFA Super Cup and Supercopa de Espana to their trophy cabinet this term.

Ahead of Wednesday's semi-final against Al Jazira at Zayed Sports City Stadium in Abu Dhabi, Zidane outlined his hopes of earning more major honours in the coming months.

"It will not be easy and last year we had a lot of problems before we managed to win it," he told reporters. "There will not be easy games and for just being Real Madrid we are not going to win. We have time to prepare for the game and there are no excuses.

"This is the calendar and whoever we face we need to look at doing what we have to do well. It is normal that during the season you have ups and downs but what we have done so far is very positive.

"We have won two titles [this term] and we are trying to win a third. After this we will have six months to fight for La Liga, the Champions League and the cup."

Two-time winners Madrid beat Japanese side Kashima Antlers 4-2 in last year's Club World Cup final after recovering from a goal down.

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TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
1Barcelona87012591621
2Real Madrid85301761118
3Villarreal85211715217
4Atletico MadridAtletico8440124816
5Athletic Bilbao8422128414
6Mallorca842286214
7Osasuna84221213-114
8Real BetisBetis833287112
9Rayo Vallecano824298110
10Celta Vigo83141515010
11AlavesAlaves83141112-110
12GironaGirona8233911-29
13Sevilla8233810-29
14Real Sociedad822467-18
15Getafe814356-17
16Leganes814359-47
17Espanyol8215712-57
18Valencia8125513-85
19Real ValladolidValladolid8125417-135
20Las PalmasLas Palmas8035916-73


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