Zinedine
Zidane made a sensational return as a coach of Real Madrid after the release of
Santiago Solari was finally confirmed on Monday.
Zidane
received a contract until June 2022. Just nine months after he resigned at the
end of last season, leading Madrid to the historic third victory of the
Champions League.
Solari's
release was expected after three more defeats at home - twice with Barcelona
and Ajax - the Madrid season was considered almost before the end of March.
But Zidane's
return, with just 11 games in La Liga and almost unstoppable, is a surprise,
especially after he left at an amazing pace of another European triumph.
"The
Real Madrid Board has decided to terminate the Santiago Solari contract as the
first team coach," we read in an official statement on Monday.
"Real
Madrid appreciates the work done by Santiago Solari and the commitment and
loyalty that he has always shown to this club.
"The
board has also agreed to nominate Zinedine Zidane for a new Real Madrid coach
with immediate effect for the remainder of the season and for the next three,
by June 30, 2022."
Like Solari,
Zidane was responsible for the reserve side of Real Madrid, Castilla, when he
was promoted in January 2016. Madrid finished second this year and then won La
Liga in the first full season of Zidane.
They were
not able to repeat this feat in the previous season and finished 17 points for
Barcelona, but the national disappointment was almost forgotten because
Zidane again oversees the success in Europe, with the victory over Liverpool in
the final in Kiev.
Extremely
popular among the majority of players, the nomination Zidane will almost
certainly raise the morale in the locker room, after a week in which Captain
Sergio Ramos allegedly quarreled with the president of the club Florentino
Perez and participated in the training camp with Marcelo.
Gareth Bale
was one of the few who suffered during Zidane's previous spell, with a couple
who did not speak in the run-up to the Champions League final. The future of
Bale appears now in serious doubts, unless their relationship can be quickly
repaired.
The Welshman
could have left last summer if Zidane stayed, but it was Cristiano Ronaldo who
left and the Frenchman now takes over the team that is losing Portugal's goals
and urgently in need of reform.
Despite the
dominance of Madrid in the Champions League, the La Liga has a place to catch
up, where Barcelona is on the right track to seal its eighth championship in 11
years.
Madrid sits
12 points behind Barca in the table despite a 4-1 victory over Real Valladolid
on Sunday, which turned out to be Solari's final match.
Solari
received a contract until 2021. After monitoring the improvement after the
release of Julen Lopetegui in November.
However,
known problems, including the lack of goals and leaky defense, reappeared in
February, when after losing at home with Girona, losses in Barcelona in the
league and cups and the humiliation of Ajax in the last 16 Champions League
quickly occurred.
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