Zidane better than Owen

Steve McManaman told a press conference on Thursday he thinks team-mate Zinedine Zidane is head and shoulders above Liverpool's Michael Owen.

Macca, who started out with The Reds, reckons that Zizou just needs more time to adapt to life in la Primera.

"Owen is a fantastic young player but for me Zidane is the best in the world," Macca said.

"When I arrived here it was relatively easy for me to find my feet but everyone's different and with Zizou it may take longer."

"When he's been here for a while things will start to get better because he's a fantastic player".

Regarding the Spanish media's favourite topic of whether Real play better with or without the Frenchman, Macca added: "Changing the system isn't a problem for us, whether we play 4-4-2 or 5-3-2 or whatever."

"What we want is to play all games well either with or without Zidane, adapting to the system isn't a big deal for us."

Macca doesn't know whether he'll be picked for Saturday's match at Real Betis but he concluded that it'll be a difficult match for the Merengues.