And that’s exactly what happened against Liverpool, against one of the game’s most prestigious coaches in Jurgen Klopp all without Sergio Ramos, Raphael Varane, and Dani Carvajal.
Zidane went for his usual 4-3-3 despite the injuries and he found Liverpool’s weak point – their defense. Toni Kroos and Thibaut Courtois‘ long balls helped undo the German’s coaching plans, while Vinicius Junior was tasked with getting on the end of those balls. And it worked.
But since all of this is not going to change the opinion of the anti-Zidane camp, which has certainly been seen by presidential hopeful E. Riquelme, let’s look at the data.
The 3-1 victory over Liverpool was Zidane’s 50th Champions League match as a coach – and his figures are the best in the history of the competition, with 31 wins, 10 draws, and nine losses. Pep Guardiola managed 30 wins in his first 50, whilst Vicente del Bosque achieved 29 with Real Madrid and Diego Simeone 28 with Atletico.
Zidane’s Real Madrid is well and truly alive in both the Champions League and LaLiga Santander. It remains to be seen whether he can pull off such a feat, but right now he has options not every coach can say. Not Klopp, not Ronald Koeman nor Simeone. His side is also 12 games unbeaten, with ten wins and two draws.
The Frenchman’s coaching career so far has been nothing short of fantastic. He won three Champions Leagues in a row and two league titles – a record which leaves him competing with Guardiola for the most successful coach in history.
The situation has now been complicated to point that Varane’s positive test leaves Zidane without his starting center-back pairing for the decisive games against Liverpool and Barcelona. He has also been more than 80 days without his two right-backs. Three of the absentees – Ramos, Carvajal and Odriozola – have exceeded 100 days off. The recent casualties of Ramos and Varane typify the chaos.
