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After two and a half seasons with Real Madrid, French legend Zinedine Zidane stepped down at Santiago Bernabeu last summer. Julen Lopetegui was announced as Real Madrid manager soon after Zidane left the club, but his time in the Spanish capital was short-lived. The Spaniard was shown the exit door following a 5-1 humiliation at the hands of arch-rivals, FC Barcelona in the El Classico.
Santiago Solari took over the managerial duties after that and it looked like he would be the man to revive the sleeping giants following a couple of decent results. However, the Argentine also faced a similar fate as Real Madrid suffered an embarrassing exit from the Champions League and Copa Del Rey with losses at the hands of Ajax and Barcelona respectively.
A couple of poor performances in the last few weeks also forced Real Madrid to fall 12 points below the top of the La Liga table and many started calling for the dismissal of Santiago Solari. A number of big managers were linked with the job, with Jose Mourinho also expressing his interest to return to the club, but Florentino Perez had other plans.
Finally, Real Madrid decided to sack Solari and Zinedine Zidane has been reappointed as their manager just after leaving the club 10 months ago. The Frenchmen guided Los Blancos to three consecutive Champions League triumphs during his initial tenure and the fans will be hoping for a similar outcome this term.
Zidane's first game in charge on his return to Madrid will be against Celta de Vigo on March 16.
A club statement read:
The board of directors of Real Madrid, meeting today, Monday, March 11, 2019, has decided to terminate the contract that linked Santiago Solari with the club as coach of the first team.
Real Madrid appreciates the work done by Santiago Solari and the commitment and loyalty he has always shown to what is his home.
The board of directors has also agreed the appointment of Zinedine Zidane as the new coach of Real Madrid with immediate incorporation for the remainder of the season and the next three, until June 30, 2022.
Let us take a look at some of the best tweets on Zidane's return to Real Madrid;
