Juande Ramos admits he hardly a chance to reconsider after accepting the Real Madrid job. In a dramatic 24 hours, the former Tottenham boss was appointed by Real following the axing of Bernd Schuster.
"They didn't even give me time to look at myself in the mirror," Ramos said ahead of today's Champions League match against Zenit St. Petersburg.
"They gave me the tracksuit and I'm not sure if it fits me well. It's normal that with so little time and anticipation that there is a lot of work to do."
Schuster was fired on Tuesday, two days after saying that it would be "impossible" for the two-time defending Spanish champion to win the "clasico" at Barcelona this Saturday. Near-perfect Barcelona leads archrival Madrid by nine points in the table.
"This will be difficult," Ramos said of the task ahead after agreeing to lead the club through this season. "We don't have any idle time. Fatigue is accumulating, the psychological work is very important."
Ramos immediately set out to build up the confidence in his players after Schuster all but threw in the towel with his comments. Ramos has one previous victory in eight trips to Camp Nou - with Rayo Vallecano during the 1999-2000 season.
"Madrid is a team that whichever game it has to play it will go in with maximum motivation to play it," Ramos said. "Barcelona is playing really well but Madrid is playing well enough to not renounce a victory in any stadium in the world."
But first, Ramos wants Madrid to win against Zenit with pride to play for. Madrid has already clinched its place in the knockout stages.
"Winning a Champions League game is prestigious," Ramos said. "The team needs to win."