Storyline: With the Champions League win, Real Madrid and Zidane made history: the shortest time (4 months) for a manager to win a Champions League title. Written by Abdur Rehman, Pakistan
Rafa Benitez, the previous Real Madrid manager was sacked on 4th January, 2016 after just 7 months at the club. Real Madrid played 25 games under him with 17 wins, 5 draws, and 3 loses, for a win percentage of 68%. The win percentages of previous managers were 75% for Manuel Pellegrini and Carlos Ancelotti and 72% for Jose Mourinho.
Courtesy: goal.com
But the main reason for his departure was 4-0 defeat from Barcelona in November’s El-Classico. It was clear that Rafa would be sacked and Castilla’s Zinedine Zidane would become the new leader. Zidane denied it at first, saying “He’s good at his job (at Real Madrid) and I am good at mine (at Castilla).” Whether true or not, President Florentino Perez sacked Rafa in early January and appointed Zidane, a former Real Madrid player, as manager. “He is one of the greatest players of all time,” Perez said.
Zidane set his team with a new strategy, putting Casemiro in the 11 at the place of James Rodriguez, knowing that his physical strength is far more than James. I’m not saying that he insulted James by benching him, but it was his technical thinking which resulted in good outcomes in almost every matches. After half-time or 60 minutes he used to call James from the bench and James proved his mettle by scoring or assisting.
This strategy was applied in almost all the matches under Zidane. The other change that Zidane made was Danilo (in) and Carvajal (out) in some of the matches. That move resulted in sometimes good, other times bad, results. All other positions were same except the injuries.
In La Liga, Real Madrid’s first match under Zidane was against Deportivo La Coruna, Real Madrid won, 5-0. A change in atmosphere was apparent even before kick-off. President Perez took his seat looking particularly pleased. He said, “Even today, in the street, people stop me to thank me for having recruited Zidane. He was my most emblematic player.”
Karim Benzema, Real Madrid (photo, wsj.com)
Zidane stood in the players’ tunnel, taking his place behind Benzema and whispering into his ear. Benzema opened the scoring soon thereafter, his 100th goal for the club, and not one of them a penalty. The match ended with another goal by Benzema and a hat trick by Gareth Bale. It was really a good start.
The next week he again had a 5-1 win against Sporting Gijon. Then on 25th January the path to fame was hindered with a 1-1 draw against Real Betis. Then, after 3 wins in a row, he drew with Malaga and lost, 1-0, toy Atletico Madrid.
Fans and analysts were talking about his departure. There were some wins in the next games but, then, came time for April’s El-Classico. It was the last chance for Zidane to prove his mettle. Real Madrid had not won there since 2007. Now it was Zidane’s turn to win, but the smart money was on Bacelona.
Ramon Calderon, the former Real Madrid’s president said: “Although the team is good, but Zidane is a good 2nd division coach and he should go back to Castilla.” He was wrong. Real Madrid won, 2-1, with Benzema scoring the opening goal at 15’ and Cristiano Ronaldo scoring the winning goal at 85’.
In Champions League, Benitez left the team at the top in group stages. Real Madrid won their first knock-out match from AS Roma with 4-0 agg. The quarterfinal against Wolfsburg was astonishing. In the first leg Real Madrid lost by 2-0 but, in the 2nd leg, Ronaldo scored a hat trick and the team was through for semifinals by winning 3-2 agg.
Real Madrid faced Manchester City in the semis. The matches were tough, but Real Madrid won 1-0 agg. The final was against Atletico Madrid. Real Madrid had hunger for La-Undecima and Atletico was seeking its first Champions League title. Real Madrid was winning 1-0 until 76.’ At that point Carrasco equalized. The match afterwards went on penalties and Real Madrid won, 5-3.
With the win Real Madrid made history: the shortest time (4 months) for a manager to win a Champions League title.
Real Madrid’s Florentino Perez (photo, 101greatgoals.com)
The victory strengthened Zidane as manager. What he accomplished was simply amazing. Florentino Perez has now also asked him to take part in upcoming transfer window. He can struggle for Morata payback; also he can go for a midfielder, like Paul Pogba, if he would be willing, Eden Hazard is also a good option.
The lineup at the present is also not bad. It has plenty of top-class players, Even youngsters have now gained so much confidence. Lucas Vazquez is a good example. Isco is playing very well and Casemiro is succeeding in making his permanent position in 11.
The defense needs no change. Kroos and Modric are best for midfield. The BBC, the real attackers, also need no change. So by considering all these points, and by keeping in view the Zidane’s strategy in previous 4 months, one can surely say that Zidane is doing well, very well, indeed.
Zidane put it best: “I am going to put my heart and soul into this job so that everything works out well.” And everything really did work out well!
He is the truly “Special One.”
