7M - Zidane's fabulous 2016: ability or luck

Posted Saturday, February 18, 2017 by 7M Sport

Zinedine Zidane took charge of Real Madrid one year ago. And this week, let's review his fabulous first year.

He made a flying start since he had taken over the reins.

In the opening 3 games at the Bernabeu, Real Madrid ran out 5-0 winners over Deportivo La Coruna, 5-1 over Sporting de Gijon and 6-0 over Espanyol with a goal difference of +15.

The whole squad, especially some key players, like Cristiano Ronaldo and Luka Modric, were relieved to see that their club claimed a run of 3 emphatic wins right after new head coach's taking charge. What's worth mentioning is that in these 3 games, CR7 and Karim Benzema scored 5 goals individually, and Bale scored 4 goals.

Since then, Zidane convinced the players that he is the right person for the job. And they all welcomed this childhood idol.

From Mar. 2 to Sep. 19, the Frenchman has guided Real Madrid to equalize a record that Guardiola had in Barcelona, winning 16 games in a row in the season 2010-2011.

During this victorious run, goals from Cristiano and Benzema helped Real Madrid claim a 2-1 narrow win over Barcelona on April 2nd.

Also on May 28, the Frenchman overcame Atletico de Madrid to clinch their 11th Champions League title. And Zidane becomes the first French manager to win the Champions League. He is also the 7th person to have won it both as a player and as a manager.

From Sep. 21 to Oct. 2, Real Madrid suffered 4 consecutive draws against Villarreal, Las Palmas, Borussia Dortmund and Eibar.

At that time, pressure mounted on Zidane to stop the rot and bring the club back to winning ways. The fans may forget the hero who just guided the squad to a victorious run of 16 games.

In fact, Casemiro, Luka Modric and Sergio Ramos Garcia are out injured. And many players suffered from fatigue due to Euro 2016.

However, Zidane silenced critics with a 6-1 win at Real Betis and a 5-1 win over Legia Warszawa.

In the Madrid Derby on November 19th, Real Madrid eased to a 3-0 win over Atletico Madrid at the Vicente Calderon.

Zidane beat Simeone over tactics, and the latter is considered one of the best managers in the world.

In that derby, the Frenchman deployed Isco to fill the role behind Cristiano Ronaldo with Lucas Vazquez and Gareth Bale on the wings of midfield. This formation is built to feed the Portuguese striker, and he lived up to the head coach's expectations with a hat-trick.

In his fabulous first year in Real, Zidane won 3 titles. Is it ability or luck? Time will tell.