Zinedine Zidane insists he can handle the mounting pressure at Real Madrid.
The Spanish giants have made a disastrous start to their La Liga campaign and Sunday’s defeat at Girona has left them eight points behind leaders Barcelona.
Real Madrid boss Zidane denied losing to newly-promoted Girona was his worst result as manager and then borrowed a line from a Billy Ocean song to insist they will bounce back against Tottenham.
“When the going gets tough I think I work my best,” said Zidane. “Life is like this, there are always hard moments, but you have to trust in the way you work and come back stronger.
“I don’t think it (Girona) is the worst match, this is football. We all know how football works, that sometimes you’re going to lose matches and it’s obviously frustrating particularly when you are 1-0 up and you need to push home that advantage.
“The little moments in that match got away from us and we ended up losing.
“It is important we don’t dwell on that, that we think about tomorrow, go again and give our all as we always do to get the right result. Nothing will change our approach when we prepare and are going out to win.
“I always have the same hopes and motivation and work when I go about my job. After a defeat of course people aren’t happy but in some way I actually like this. I like having the motivation of a big match so we can get back to winning ways. This is something that inspires me.
“We’re very good. Perhaps some people are thinking from the outside that a defeat might leave us down in the dumps but that is not at all the case.
“We are good, we have a big match tomorrow. We are working well and are ready to perform well in this match against great opposition as is Tottenham Hotspur.”
Real Madrid defender Marcelo also admitted he could not explain why they have been so consistent in the Champions League - they have won it three times in the last four seasons - and yet are struggling in La Liga.
Marcelo added: “Perhaps it falls down to the motivation of each player. It is normal in the CL we have very high motivation in this tournament.
“It’s hard to explain. Motivational factors affect each player perhaps. To win La Liga you have to perform all year round.
“Last year we only won the league in the last match of the season but you can’t lose points over the season. It is very difficult playing a match every three days and keeping a high level.
“You have also to rest, work hard on the training ground and take the criticism that comes. With Real Madrid always there is pressure, that is normal.
“But we have to not lose our heads and keep calm and collected.”