Even for a man and a club synonymous with
European Cup glory, Zinedine Zidane and
Real Madrid stand on the brink of
history in Saturday's Champions League
final against Juventus in Cardiff.
Since the European Cup was rebranded and
expanded into the Champions League in 1992,
no team has been capable of defending the
trophy.
However, just 18 months into his first senior
managerial role, Zidane is one match away
from joining a stellar cast as just the 20th
coach to win the competition twice.
Moreover, a 12th European crown for Madrid
would reaffirm their status as self-proclaimed
kings of Europe with a third Champions
League in four seasons.
"I am the coach which means I am doing
something right, but everyone in this squad is
doing a phenomenal job," said Zidane after
Real withstood an Atletico Madrid onslaught
in the semi-finals.
Zidane has had a hand in all of Real's last
four trips to the final.
He famously scored one of the greatest ever
Champions League final goals to win the
game against Bayer Leverkusen back in his
playing days in 2002 and was part of Carlo
Ancelotti's coaching staff that ended a 12-year
wait for Madrid's 10th European Cup in 2014.
Zidane went one step further by joining
Ancelotti as one of just seven men to win the
competition as both player and coach when
Real squeezed out local rivals Atletico on
penalties in Milan in last year's final.
Yet, it is Real's run back to European
football's showpiece occasion this season
which has been his most impressive feat in
his first full season in charge.
While Madrid rode the luck of the draw and
from the spot last season, Zidane's men have
overcome Napoli's flair, the might of Bayern
Munich and Atletico's intensity for the right
to be in Cardiff.
What is more, they have done all that whilst
ending Barcelona's domestic dominance by
winning La Liga for the first time in five
years and lifting the European Super Cup and
Club World Cup earlier in the season.
"It is the happiest day of my professional life
by a distance," Zidane, a World Cup winner
with France in 1998, surprisingly said after
winning the league title last weekend.
- Two different philosophies -
Even by Real's standards, victory in the Welsh
capital will seal the single most successful
season in the club's history.
That Juventus provide the final hurdle adds
extra intrigue as it is from the Italian giants
that Madrid plucked Zidane for a then world
record fee in 2001.
The fact the Frenchman spent the prime
decade of his career at two of the biggest
clubs in the world with two very different
philosophies on how to win has undoubtedly
shaped his managerial style.
Despite being one of Real president Florentino
Perez's original "galactico" signings, Zidane
hasn't been afraid to bring more defensive
balance to his Madrid side by rewarding the
hard work of the likes of Casemiro and Lucas
Vazquez over glamorous big money buys like
James Rodriguez.
However, his experience as one of the
greatest players of his generation has given
him a huge advantage over his predecessors
at the Bernabeu with the respect he
commands from an ego-filled dressing room.
"Zidane has done a phenomenal job," said
Cristiano Ronaldo after Madrid sealed La Liga.
Compared to Madrid's 11 European Cups,
Juventus' two is a meagre return for a club of
their stature.
That record has come about by losing a record
six finals, including their last four.
Zidane knows better than most the pain of
Juve's previous failures having played in the
losing sides in 1997 and against Madrid in
1998. However, he plans on prolonging that
misery for Italy's Old Lady.
"For sure it is special because it was a very
important club for me as a player. It is a club
that also gave me everything," Zidane said
after booking Madrid's place in the final.
"Now, though, I am with Real Madrid, the
club of my life and it will be a great final."
0 maoni:
Chapisha Maoni