Zinedine Zidane has worked as Real Madrid‘s manager in six distinct seasons, including two incomplete ones. In these six seasons, he has been the gaffer for 263 games and won 11 trophies at a rate of just 24 games per trophy. It’s a no-brainer to see him as one of the best Real Madrid managers ever, if not the best.
His trophy collection as a manager includes 3 Champions League, 2 LaLiga, 2 Supercopa de Espana titles, 2 Club World Cups, and 2 UEFA Super Cups. If he would’ve continued as Real Madrid’s manager, he could’ve beat Miguel Munoz’s record of winning 14 trophies as a manager, and become the undisputed best.
He has submitted his resignation for his managerial post, but he will always be one of Real Madrid’s closest people, and this resignation isn’t a goodbye, it’s just a see you later. On the occasion of him stepping down as Real Madrid’s manager, let us rank his seasons as Real Madrid’s manager.
I’m going to exclude the 2018/19 season from the list. By the time he was reappointed as the manager, Real Madrid was knocked out from Champions League and Copa Del Rey, and there were more than 10 points off the league leaders Barcelona, with just 11 games remaining. Since that time was given to Zidane only as an experimentation period, let’s ignore that particular season.
5. The 2020/21 season – The only trophyless season of Zidane’s managerial career
As it is mentioned in the title, the recently concluded 2020/21 season is the only trophyless season of Zinedine Zidane’s career as Real Madrid’s manager. Real Madrid couldn’t defend their LaLiga title and lost the trophy to Atletico Madrid by just 2 points, were eliminated from the Champions League in the semifinals and were kicked out from the Copa Del Rey in the round of 32 by third division team Alcoyano.
You can find similarities between this season and the 2014/15 season under Carlo Ancelotti, as Real Madrid went trophyless, and their LaLiga standing and Champions League exits came at a similar stage. Ancelotti was sacked after the 2014/15 season, like any other Real Madrid manager who can’t win a trophy in the season.
But there were no doubts about Zidane being sacked despite a trophyless season. Because everyone at the club knew that Zidane had practically overachieved with the squad he had and the challenges he faced. Zidane’s achievements spoke for themselves, and the board members wouldn’t have raised a finger at a respectful person like Zidane. But to everyone’s surprise, Zidane left by himself.
It’s not an exaggeration to say that Zidane had overachieved with his squad. Because he has faced a lot of challenges this season. Real Madrid had considerable problems in their attack in the 2019/20 season. But nothing was done to solve those issues because zero signings were made in the 2020 summer transfer window, as the club had to sell to cover up for the losses.
Zidane had to take care of an ageing squad with no new signings, and he had to deal with 65 injuries all season, which might actually be a club record for the number of injuries in a season. He had an attacking line in which there was the only goalscorer in Karim Benzema, and he had a defensive line with two starters absent for most of the season, including the captain Sergio Ramos.
He had a slow start to the season, and the lack of pre-season did hurt his hopes. He had to experiment with his players and try out different formations and systems while the season progressed, which hurt the team badly in some games. And it also threw the team’s chances of progressing for the Champions League knockouts and league title hopes at risk, as they had a terrible time in November. To add to that, his tactics didn’t work out well.
But everything changed since the Sevilla game I’m December. With time, he has evolved tactically, and he got an understanding of whom to use and when to use them. He worked hard to bring the team to the stage of contesting for the Champions League and League in April, despite all the injuries and other challenges. He got most of his decisions right in the second half of the season, and he can just consider himself unlucky to miss out on a 3rd league title as a manager.
If there are any games for which Zidane has to be blamed this season, they’re the Copa Del Rey loss to Alcoyano and the 2nd leg of the Champions League vs Chelsea. The former fixture is something a top-level manager is expected to win with ease, and it was nothing short of a humiliation. But the Chelsea one was a complete tactical failure from Zidane because it looked like the players had no idea of what to do. He was completely outclassed by Thomas Tuchel.
Zidane has done an excellent job this season, and he has received a lot of appreciation for reaching the semi-finals of the UEFA Champions League and competing in the league till the final matchday, despite having so many injuries and zero signings. He deserves a lot of credit for this season. But it is a trophyless season nonetheless, and it’s the only season in his managerial career in which he hasn’t won any form of silverware. The brilliant progress from Zidane as a manager doesn’t save this season from being the worst season in his managerial career.
Best game of the season: 3-1 win vs Liverpool, April 2020
The experiment of the season: The 3-4-3 formation used vs Getafe, with Mendy used as an LCB and Marcelo as a wingback