Speechless Zinedine Zidane reflects on Real Madrid’s third consecutive UCL title
By Ben Sundock
After a fantastic playing career with Real Madrid, Zinedine Zidane has done the unthinkable as a manager. He is the first coach in the history of the European Cup to lead one team to three straight titles. Here is what the gaffer had to say after the match.
All quotes come via the Real Madrid official website.
Opening Statement
"“We wanted to win everything at the start of the season. We can’t be too pleased with our efforts in LaLiga or the Copa, but we’ll take away what we’ve achieved today. We have to congratulate the players because what they’re doing isn’t easy. I have no words. This squad has no limits.”“The secret to winning is incredible talent and hard work. They are very good players but we very extremely hard. It’s a team full of enthusiasm and hunger and they’ve shown it yet again. We got to the final by beating PSG, Juventus and Bayern and now we’ve overcome Liverpool. There’s no secret, just hunger, and knowing that nobody else has won what we’ve won.”"
While the fans and players might be disappointed with the team’s finish domestically, it is worth noting that a “down year” for Los Blancos saw them win four trophies including another FIFA Club World Cup and a third straight Champions League title. Zizou is right when he says this team is hungry and determined.
They never seem to be satisfied with their accomplishments.
Take on Gareth Bale’s goal
"“Gareth’s, mine and Cristiano Ronaldo’s in Turin are three goals for the history books. The last one is the most important one and that’s why I’ll go for Bale’s goal.”“I only think about what we’re doing now and what we got from the game. Cristiano Ronaldo has to stay, there’s no question about that. He’s a Real Madrid player and there are no words for what he’s done. If he said that, he said it and that’s it. Maybe in three or four days he will say something else, but I’ll stick with what we’re doing now.”"
This is a fascinating comment from Zidane because he loves to bring up his goal from the 2002 UCL Final against Bayer Leverkusen. While the goal will go down in history, I still believe that Bale’s goal, in a tie game past the hour mark, was bigger than both Zizou’s incredible volley and Ronaldo’s goal against Juventus this season.
Update on Dani Carvajal
"“We feel really sorry for him. I spoke to him at half-time, as did the players. It’s tough for him, but he’s won another Champions League winners’ medal.”"
The first half of Saturday’s game was very disappointing as both Real Madrid and Liverpool saw two of the more important players go down with serious injuries. It looked like Dani tweaked his hamstring or maybe hurt his ankle but he was clearly in serious pain as he left the pitch.
Let’s hope he is able to make it back for the World Cup which is just over two weeks away from getting underway.
Next: Real Madrid: Bicycling Bale the hero in Kyiv
Thoughts on the La Liga season
"“It’s the most exciting league of them all. It’s very competitive and tough. When you look at the Spanish players and their national team, Spanish football and how the game is played in Spain this is my favourite league.”"
Like I said before, while this was an underwhelming league campaign, the team can hold their heads high knowing they have won the Champions League for the third consecutive year thanks to some amazing play on the field, a good amount of luck, and good tactical decisions from their manager.
I am truly sad to see this season come to an end but, the World Cup is right around the corner.