All these years later, the fondness from the Real Madrid fans towards Zinedine Zidane has only grown. Not only did he win three straight Champions League titles, but he also came back when the club were risking reaching a true banter era, winning La Liga in 2019/20 with an insane defensive performance. He bitterly lost the league a season later by Luis Suarez's foot with mere minutes remaining in the campaign, peacefully resigning after being betrayed by Florentino Perez and the board behind the scenes.
Real Madrid supporters are eternally grateful for the lasting legacy Zidane left after his second stint, with the pieces of the 2021/22 Champions League title triumph initially laid down by Zizou. And time has proven that he was right about many players, including those who left like Martin Odegaard. His grace of man management leaves many wondering if he were coach today, would the team really have such issues with Kylian Mbappe?
But a lot of the questions Zizou has left behind are more subtle. For example, there were young players he gave chances to at the end of that injury riddled 2020/21 season who became among the best in La Liga. Miguel Gutierrez was a gem for Girona before spreading his wings to Serie A giants Napoli. And now Sergio Arribas, his first love from the academy that season, is showing a real flair for goal for Cristiano Ronaldo's new club UD Almeria.
Antonio Blanco is outplaying Aurelien Tchouameni
It looks like the biggest gem was the cool customer Antonio Blanco, who is leading the charge as a midfield orchestrator and defensive midfielder, perhaps the best No. 6 in the entire Spanish top flight this season.
Blanco delivered another masterful performance this weekend for Deportivo Alaves with five combined tackles and interceptions, three fouls drawn, and over 91 percent of his passes completed against Real Sociedad.
Now 25 years old, Blanco is entering the prime years of his career, and for a fraction of a price of what Real Madrid would spend on Tchouameni a year after his first taste of starting for the Merengues, Blanco is delivering more quality on a worse team. He makes more defensive interventions and creates more chances, and he also happens to be a year younger.
That is no disrespect on Aurelien Tchouameni, but rather a credit to Antonio Blanco. He always looked like he had something special even back then in 2021, guiding the midfield and making brililant passes under pressure while providing the lights out intensity on defense that Zinedine Zidane always desired. And Real Madrid have missed these characters, especially now. With Thiago Pitarch and Miguel Angel coming up now, Alvaro Arbeloa and the club have a chance to avoid making the same mistake they did with Blanco.