Real Madrid: Zinedine Zidane says this year’s tie with Juventus will be nothing like Cardiff
By Ben Sundock
Before his team face Juventus in the first leg of the Champions League quarterfinal Tuesday, Real Madrid manager Zinedine Zidane sat down with UEFA.com to talk about his past at the Italian club and give a preview for the match.
All quotes come via UEFA.com and AS.com.
Did you expect to be this successful at Real Madrid as a manager?
“Being at this club, with an incredible history… I knew that I could win things. That is the history of the club, it’s in the DNA of the club, this team. I did it as a player. I won many things as a player, I though that I could do it as a manager too”
“At the same time, it’s true that to win eight titles in two years was not something that I imagined. But that’s all, it’s done. The important thing now is to do everything we can to try and win titles. This is the way that is most important: what we do, what work we do, what we invest in order to win. That is the most important. It’s in the DNA of the club.”
What is the biggest difference between being a player and a manager?
“Nothing to do with it. I won as a player. Today, to be responsible for 25 players, they have nothing to do with each other. I think that it was Carlo Ancelotti who told me: ‘You’ll see, because that’s what will happen to you and you can judge it yourself, to win as a manager is much sweeter and much more difficult’ and he was right.”
What does the club mean to you?
“Everything. Everything because this club gave me everything. I remember the president Florentino Perez, the one who brought me here. It is him who brought me here. I owe him everything. From my arrival, I played, I am the manager, 17 or 18 years have passed and I am in Madrid.”
“I am well settled, my family too. Because of that, I own everything to my president and to this club and also to all of the people, all of the fans, who have always shown me respect and love. This is the history, I hope it continues.”
What was it like playing for Juventus?
“I think that Juventus was an important springboard for me. I left Bordeaux, France and I arrived at a very homely club. I was also well-received by the manager, Marcelo Lippe, who helped me to progress. This club made me grow as a player and as a person. I owe it a lot. That’s why I didn’t play for many clubs in my career. It was my choice.”
Looking back at the 2017 Champions League Final
“It was a little bit of everything. It wasn’t just my talk at half-time that influenced it. There was the desire of the players to win. When we went out in the second half, we were more decisive. Things turned out well.”
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Can you draw any comparisons from that match and this one?
Everything will be different. We can be two-time champions but that doesn’t mean anything. Simple, it gives us the right to say we can defend out title but nothing more. It will be necessary to demonstrate it on the field, to be efficient, moreso than last year. And it will be a very difficult knockout game.”
My thoughts
Zizou is very astute here in saying that the match-up with Juve some 10 months after the Champions League Final will be completely different.
Both of these teams have been on a different trajectory in 2017/2018 as neither side has dominated their respective leagues like we saw a year ago. Plus, both team’s have seen some changes in personnel which could greatly affect the flow of the match.
A year ago, we saw Isco free roam the pitch and pick apart the Juventus back line. This year, the Spaniard is a doubt to even start the match with the likes of Lucas Vazquez and Marco Asensio vying for a starting spot in this first leg.
Next: Scouting the enemy: A guide to Juventus
On the other side, Blaise Matudi has burst onto the scene with the Italian giants switching moving from Paris Saint-Germain in the summer. He and former Real Madrid CDM, Sami Khedira, have become a great defensive duo and that shows in the lack of goals allowed by the team this season.