Top 5 moments of Zinedine Zidane at the helm of Real Madrid

Zizou stepped down as Real Madrid's coach
Zizou stepped down as Real Madrid's coach

Zinedine Zidane dropped a bombshell on Real Madrid fans as he announced his resignation as the club's manager at a press conference a few hours ago.

The French maestro took this decision just four days after guiding his team to their 13th Champions League title.

Zidane took over Real Madrid's coaching duties from Rafael Benitez in 2016. Having already enjoyed legendary status as a player with 47 goals in 245 appearances, the three-time FIFA World Player of the Year did a remarkable job as the club's manager as he coached Los Blancos to 9 titles in a span of nearly two and a half years.

Zidane had many remarkable moments with the club as manager during his term as manager. The French legend earned a number of individual managerial honors that included being named the best FIFA Football Coach in 2017 and the La Liga manager of the month on two occasions.

Here are Zizou's top 5 moments with Real Madrid.


#5 Equaling the record for the most number of La Liga wins

Zidane coached Real to a 16 successive La Liga wins
Zidane coached Real to a 16 successive La Liga wins

On 27th February 2016, Real Madrid lost the Madrid derby at the Bernabeu to Atletico Madrid thanks to a second half goal from Antoine Griezmann.

However, this was their last league defeat of the season as they won their remaining 12 league games including an El Clasico win at Camp Nou. This wasn't enough to win them the league though.

In the 2016-17 season, Los Blancos won their first three games which extended their La Liga winning streak to 15 wins. This equaled the club's La Liga winning streak during the1960-61 season.

In their next league game, Real defeated Espanyol 2-0 to win their 16th La Liga match in a row.

This was a new club record and the joint record for the most La Liga wins in a row, equaling Barcelona's streak in 2010-11.

All stats via transfermarkt

#4 Two successive UEFA Super cups

Zizou became the first manager to win two consecutive UEFA Supercups in 27 years
Zizou became the first manager to win two consecutive UEFA Super cups in 27 years

A few months after guiding Real Madrid to the Champions League title in 2016, Zidane was in his first UEFA Super cup as a manager. Real were up against Sevilla at Trondhiem, Norway.

Los Blancos were on the brink of a 2-1 defeat before skipper Sergio Ramos struck home the equaliser in injury time. Real then won the match thanks to a Dani Carvajal winner in the 119th minute. This was Real Madrid's third Super cup.

In the following year, Real Madrid were up against Manchester United at Skopje. This was their second successive Super cup and their fourth overall.

Zidane thus became the first manager to win two successive UEFA Super cups after Arrigo Sacchi in 1990. Sacchi attained this feat with AC Milan.

#3 Ending Barcelona's 39-match unbeaten run

Zidane's first El Clasico was a memorable one
Zidane's first El Clasico was a memorable one

Zidane's first El Clasico was at Camp Nou against a Barca side that had gone unbeaten in 39 matches, a record for any Spanish club at the time.

After a goalless first-half, Barca took the lead in the 56th minute thanks to Gerard Pique. Seven minutes later, Karim Benzema equalised for Real.

The match was pretty intense as both teams were trying to get a winner. When it seemed that Barcelona were on course for a 40th successive match without a loss, Cristiano Ronaldo netted the winner in the 85th minute to win the match for Real.

This brought an end to Barcelona's unbeaten streak of 39 matches across all competitions.

#2 A 40-match unbeaten streak

Zidane coached his side to the largest unbeaten streak by a Spanish club
Zidane coached his side to the largest unbeaten streak by a Spanish club

Following their 2-0 defeat to Wolfsburg in 2016, Real did not lose another game going into the 2016-17 season.

Their unbeaten streak continued in the 2016-17 season as they continued to impress.

With a 5-0 bashing of Granada, Real Madrid equaled Barcelona's 39-match unbeaten streak from the previous season.

In their next match, Real were up against Sevilla in the second leg of the Copa Del Ray Round of 16.

Sevilla took the lead through a Danilo own goal but Real equalised through Marco Asensio. Sevilla took a 3-1 lead thanks to goals from Stevan Jovetic and Vicente Iborra.

Sergio Ramos pulled one back for Real through an 83rd minute penalty. However, it seemed like Real's unbeaten streak was about to end.

In injury time, Karim Benzema shot home the equaliser to tie the game and extend Real Madrid's unbeaten streak to 40 games, a record for a Spanish club.

Real Madrid's unbeaten streak was eventually broken by Sevilla.

#1 A hat-trick of Champions League titles

Real Madrid Celebrate After Victory In The Champions League Final Against Liverpool
Zizou is the only manager to win three Champions League titles in a row

Of course, Zizou's greatest achievement with Real Madrid will always be his three consecutive Champions League titles.

His first Champions League final as a manager was against Atletico Madrid. Real took the lead through Sergio Ramos before Yannick Carrasco equalised for Atletico.

The match went into penalties and Real won 5-3 thanks to a miss by Juanfran.

Zidane's second Champions League final was against Juventus. Real Madrid took the lead in the 20th minute thanks to Cristiano Ronaldo before Mario Mandzukic equalised for Juve.

However, Los Blancos scored three goals in the second half to win the match 4-1 and their 12th Champions League title.

Zidane's third Champions League final was against Liverpool. Real were gifted the lead after Loris Karius' throw went straight to Karim Benzema who shot home.

Liverpool equalised through Sadio Mane but substitute Gareth Bale scored a brace to win the match for Los Blancos.

This was Zidane's third Champions League win as a manager and his fourth overall with all of them coming with Real Madrid.

Zizou is the only manager who has a hat-trick of Champions League titles.

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Edited by Anthony Akatugba Jr.