Real Madrid: Ranking Zinedine Zidane’s individual seasons as the manager
4. 2017/18 – The season in which the UEFA Champions League hat-trick was complete
This was the season in which Real Madrid completed their hat-trick of UEFA Champions League title, winning Europe’s premier club competition for a record 13th time. It was also the fourth title won by Real Madrid in the past five seasons, with Zidane winning three of them as a manager and another one as an assistant manager to Carlo Ancelotti.
Real Madrid had to toil hard to win this trophy, and the result of his competition could’ve judged this season because Real Madrid could’ve gone trophyless in 2017/18 if they couldn’t have won the Champions trophy. Their lives depended on this trophy, and they gave their hundred percent on the pitch, with the effort paying off.
The journey to Kyiv wasn’t an easy one for Real Madrid. As Real Madrid couldn’t win a game in their fixtures against Tottenham Hotspur in the group stages, they finished second in the group and had drawn the tougher set of opponents. They drew Paris Saint-Germain in the round of 16 and given Real’s form in Spain, and also because of the hype behind PSG’s gala trio of Neymar Jr, Edinson Cavani, and Kylian Mbappe. But Real Madrid cleared that challenge and from that moment there was no stopping them.
On their way to glory, Real Madrid had to defeat the Champions of France in PSG, the Champions of Italy in Juventus, the Champions of Germany in Bayern Munich, and one of the best teams of England in the form of Liverpool. No Challenge was easy, and there were a lot of scares and stumbling blocks on the road. But Real Madrid had highly determined and top-quality individuals on their side, who were guided by a proven winner, which lead them to glory.
One might be wondering how is a Champions-League winning season ranked fourth on this list. It’s because Zidane had failed badly in the domestic competitions. Real Madrid was highly disappointing in the league, as they finished third on the table trailing the champions Barcelona by 17 points.
Winning the Champions League is a great achievement for any manager, but the European success cannot overshadow the domestic failure, and any manager who would introspect himself wouldn’t be very happy with such seasons. This is the reason why 2017/18 has been ranked fourth, despite Real Madrid winning the Champions League.
Not to forget that the journey to Kyiv wasn’t an easy ride like the 2016/17 season. There were high chances of the team getting knocked out. The team never looked at their fluent best in attack, which was visible in the previous season, and the reduced bench quality is another reason. In fact, the deteriorated bench quality is the reason why Real Madrid couldn’t defeat Leganes in Copa Del Rey and were knocked out in the quarter-finals of the competition in front of their home fans.
Real Madrid’s disappointing LaLiga campaign made Zidane realise that the team needed a change, and he wasn’t right to continue. He left 5 days after winning the Champions League in Kyiv, citing the same reason. He returned after just 9 months, but he was right in the part that the team needed changes, especially after one of the greatest players in the history of the club and the team’s talisman Cristiano Ronaldo left Real Madrid in the summer of 2018.
Best game of the season: 3-0 win against Juventus at their home. An unforgettable night!
The experiment of the season: Using a 4-4-2 flat vs Sevilla in December 2017, using Ronaldo and Benzema as strikers with Asensio and Lucas Vazquez as wingers. Real Madrid won the game 5-0.