Real players vow to fight ‘until the death’ for under-pressure Zidane
The entire football world will focus its gaze tonight on Madrid but the repercussions of another bad night for Zinedine Zidane may be most keenly felt in north London.
It may seem bizarre that the future of a manager aiming to become the first to win three consecutive European Cups is under such scrutiny, but this is Real Madrid and a glance at the La Liga table is both startling and instructive.
Fourth and some 17 points behind Barcelona – a situation compounded by their humiliation in the Spanish cup against Leganes – means that the Champions League is now regarded as Zidane’s last shot at salvation.
And, should he depart this summer, the name of Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino will figure prominently on Madrid’s shortlist.
Harry Kane is also an expected transfer target and, while Spurs remain certain about their chances of keeping these two increasingly talismanic figures, their summer could still be heavily influenced by how Madrid handle a last-16 fixture against Paris St-germain. Zidane, predictably, was adamant that his own future did not feature in his pre-match thoughts, but what he did again underline was that his faith in the group of players who delivered a rare La Liga-champions League double only nine months ago has not dimmed.
He had already decided the team that would face PSG several days ago and the expectation is that he will select a front three of Cristiano Ronaldo, Karim Benzema and Gareth Bale to go head-to-head with Neymar, Kylian Mbappe and Edinson Cavani. “I have nothing to prove – I don’t care what people say about me – I just want to play the game,” said Zidane.
More illuminating was Marcelo for the very obvious connection between Zidane and his players. Zidane’s great strength has been his man-management, loyalty and willingness to listen to his squad and, amid a 17-game unbeaten home run in Europe, those players have invariably delivered in this competition.
Marcelo spoke with feeling when he said of Zidane: “He has told us what he had to say – that he is with us – and we are with him until the death.”