Zidane’s Glory And Hardship At Real Madrid:: All Nigeria Soccer

It is consecutive, an unprecedented record. But less than a year later, on March 11, 2019, Zidane once again returned to sit in the training chair, with the aim of reviving an “empire” that was then in crisis.

Closing an unsuccessful 2018-2019 season, Real Madrid is determined to rebuild in the new season. Under the “magical” hands of the 48-year-old strategist, the Spanish Royal team got their first title in 2020 after defeating Atletico Madrid in a penalty shootout to win the Spanish Super Cup in mid-January.

Real has not yet reached its highest form at the start of the 2019-2020 season with many obstacles and uncertainties, plus the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic also affected the teams in general.

But honestly, under Zidane’s second dynasty, Real went from the bottom of the season as at the end of last season to a stable trajectory, then overcame the instability at the beginning of the season, including the effects from Covid-19, so that there is now only two points left from the La Liga Championship.

All thanks to the coaching skill of coach Zidane. As the new coach with only the first hot seat in the first team, Real Marid ended the 2015-2016 season with a streak of 12 consecutive wins and finished second behind champions Barcelona with exactly 1 point less.

But most of all, at the end of May 2016, it was Real of this wet-legged coach who won the Champions League silver cup, starting a row of impressive achievements.

In the following season, Zidane and Real raised the first La Liga trophy in half a decade and also brought the Bernabeu team to the European throne for the second time in a row. Not stopping here, until the 2017-2018 season, Zidane continued to help Real win the prestigious Champions League silver for the third time in a row, a record that no team could do in the era of the Champions League.

Also after that unprecedented feat, Zidane chose to leave while at the top of his glory. But after the two successors were briefly sacked, Zidane returned in March the following season.

Smiles are gone at Real Madrid, making room for scowl and suspicion. Zidane’s army is losing succession in the arenas and losing its ability to win.

No one can imagine, just five months after bringing Real to the La Liga championship, Zidane as a Midas who brought back three consecutive Champions League titles, had to answer the question about, should he come from function.

“I will not do that,”,”This is a difficult time but also a time for us to show the pride and courage of Real Madrid.”- Zidane said.

The French coach is still very optimistic about the future of the white shirt team, but the Madridista do not think so.

Real received a shameful defeat against Alaves at home, and then stayed in 4th place in the standings, 7 points behind the top team Real Sociedad. Note that, for the whole season last season, Zidane’s army lost only three matches, while dropping 27 points.

This season after only 10 games, they have lost the same number of games and missed 13 points.

Besides, what’s going on in the Champions League is terrible. Real was defeated by Shakhtar with a terrible performance no less than the 2-3 defeat more than a month ago.

They collapsed in a confusing way in the second half and Zidane was powerless to turn things around. Even with a feeling, the French coach ran out of permission, making three changes in the 77th minute. It was too late, and didn’t bring any positives.

Powerless to stay consistent for 90 minutes, wasting opportunities while defenders are full of mistakes, with no plans to respond and easy to break when things go wrong, Real problems are exposed when displayed in Kiev. To put it simply, Los Blancos had trouble ending the opponent.

And while doing that, the opponent shot them down. When it happened, as Zidane said after his match with Alaves, “it was difficult to avoid a defeat”.

According to data from Opta, in La Liga last season that Real Marid became the champion, they only experienced 185 minutes of being led by the opponent, at least the tournament.

But this season, although they have not reached the third of the way, they have endured 217 minutes of being led, accounting for 24.1% of the total minutes played.

This number is not only more than themselves last season, but also more than nine other teams in La Liga.

The same goes for the Champions League. Of the total 450 minutes played, Real had 183 minutes, or 40.6 percent, of living in a loser situation. By contrast, just 138 minutes, or 30.6%, played the lead.

Unable to control the game, it is understandable when Zidane’s army has fallen to 3rd place in Group B and faces the risk of being eliminated after the group stage.

At all costs, Real had to defeat M’gladbach in the last series of matches to determine his own fate. Otherwise, they will go down in history as a stain.

It was the first time in 23 consecutive seasons (Champions League record) they failed to make it out of the group stage. Normally, getting 3 points from M’gladbach is not a difficult task.

But given the current instability, it is difficult to guarantee a victory even when Real is playing at home. This season they have received three defeats at Madrid. And the last eight games at home in the Champions League, they only won two, lost four matches.

All only emphasize the crisis both in form and faith in Real. Although Zidane retains optimism as well as the attitude of a winning coach, his team does not feel it. They lose, and lose more and more.

According to ESPN, although Zidane received favor for his outstanding achievements in his previous term, he still receives support from the leaders, but there is a limit to ‘bald guy’. Zidane could lose his seat to Pochettino, if Real Madrid lost to Atletico Madrid and was eliminated from the Champions League.

Whether as a Real Madrid player or as a Real Madrid manager, former French player Zidane has always been excellent and honored with great titles.

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Photo Credit : realmadrid.com