Zidane, manager with magic wand

Madrid, July 17: After a humiliating 3-7 loss to rival Atletico Madrid in a pre-season friendly in the United States, Zinedine Zidane insisted his Real Madrid would be just fine once the real competitions began. He was right.

Almost year after that loss, Zidane and Madrid are celebrating the Spanish league title — the team’s first since Zidane returned as coach and the first since Cristiano Ronaldo left to join Juventus.

The embarrassing loss to Atletico came a few months after Zidane was asked to return as coach to try to lift the club from one of its worst crises in years, having been eliminated early in knockout round of the Champions League and falling out of contention in the Spanish league.

Zidane had quit less than a year earlier after leading Madrid to its third straight Champions League title. He said winning this year’s Spanish league felt better than the Champions League titles. With his ability to manage egos and keep an entire squad full of stars happy and performing well throughout the season, Zidane quickly turned things around and got Madrid back to the level it was playing at before he had left.

He successfully took advantage of the unplanned pandemic break to guide Madrid to 10 straight victories — the team’s best streak all season.

“Zidane has been key for us,” Madrid captain Sergio Ramos said, adding, “He has guided this team. He has shown that he trusts all of his players. That doesn’t happen with all coaches. And we believe in him.”

Ramos was among the leaders when Ronaldo was in the squad, and his role only increased in the last couple of seasons.

He contributed with his experience on defence and showed his scoring ability in attack, becoming the defender with most goals (10) in the history of the league.