Zidane enjoys a bit of luck to join the greats
THREESY DOES IT: ZZ celebrates third win as boss NOT content with being regarded as one of the greats as a player, Zinedine Zidane has now established himself as among the bracket of great managers.
Even though he is still learning his trade.
Less than two-and-ahalf years after being promoted from his position as coach of Real Madrid’s second team, the 45-year-old Frenchman has become the third coach in history to win three European Cups.
And the first to win it three seasons in a row.
He has drawn level with Liverpool’s Bob Paisley and Carlo Ancelotti, who he used to serve as an assistant.
Zidane’s is a remarkable record given he has not yet convinced everyone he is a tactical genius in the game.
Whatever the rights and wrongs of his controversial treatment of Gareth Bale, he has to be given enormous respect for managing the egos in his squad and helping to restore Real to the pinnacle of European football.
He has a knack of making decisive substitutions.
He actually needed Saturday’s victory to stop the vultures from circling over his head at the Bernabeu.
That was after Real had finished some distance behind bitter rivals Barcelona in the league and crashed out of the cup to lowly Leganes.
The football saying goes: if you can’t be a good manager be a lucky one.
Having such a richly-talented squad helps but Zidane has enjoyed plenty of good fortune. Two years ago in the final, the win over Atletico Madrid came courtesy of a penalty shoot-out.
Saturday’s victory in the Ukraine was down to those catastrophic errors by Loris Karius, Bale’s goal of the century and the injury-enforced first-half departure of Liverpool’s talismanic leading goalscorer Mo Salah.
And remember a howler by Bayern Munich’s Sven Ulreich in the semi-final was vital to Real’s progress, of course.
The question now is: where does Zidane go from here?
Real’s team on Saturday was exactly the same as in last year’s final and eight of the players who started have played in all three of the finals during Zidane’s reign.
Change is in the air, despite the Kiev victory. The Real team is an ageing one and needs fresh impetus. The hierarchy want Neymar but that will put Cristiano Ronaldo’s nose out of joint.
Bale wants out, Ronaldo is 33 and hinting at moving on, Karim Benzema is past his best and goalkeeper Keylor Navas needs to be replaced.
Zidane admits that winning the Spanish league is harder than anything else – perhaps not such a surprising claim when you consider his 100 per cent Champions League record.
Trying to wrestle back the domestic title while maintaining his grip on Europe’s top prize will be his biggest test.