When luck meets class and determination, success is inevitable.
In the history of the Uefa Champions League, no team has lifted the trophy consecutive times and not to mention, three consecutive times. The odds were tried and the odds were defiled, the lucky man behind this near-impossible feat is non other than the Legendary French icon, Zinedine Zidane.
Zidane also known as zizou, was once a French international footballer who played for Bordeaux, Juventus and Real Madrid and finally hung his boot with the Royal Whites. He is today regarded as one of the greatest player to have played the sport, his blistering football career was one to behold, he played as an attacking midfielder and produced awesome displays every time he was on the pitch, his touch, his moves, everything about Zidane's game play was worth watching. He won everything there is to win as a player and finally closed his chapter as a player after the 2006 World cup. He began his coaching career as an assistant of the Real madrid first team after series of travels to gain coaching knowledge, from being assistant, he was handed the Real Madrid B team to handle and was called up to the first team from there..
THE ZIDANE EFFECT..
Before 1992, when European cup hasn't been renamed, several teams like Real Madrid, Ajax and Bayern Munich won it thrice or more consecutively. After the competition was renamed to Uefa Champions League in 1992, no team won the competition consecutive times until the 2015/2016 season when Zidane took over the reigns at Real.
Upon his arrival, Real were recovering from the injury inflicted on them by Barcelona in the front of their own fans, coupled with failures to win some very important matches and were left trailing both Barcelona and Atletico Madrid in the league standings. It was apparent the team were in crisis, some players were not happy with the coach Benitez and as such weren't playing to expectations.
MAN MANAGEMENT, ZIDANE'S PRECIOUS GIFT..
Zidane came in and changed the story, it was clear he understood the game football perfectly well, he put his man management skills into effect immediately, maybe because he was once a player, he talked and the players listened, he walked and they followed, he carried a team filled with egocentric superstars on his back and they relaxed like his children. He oozed of class and calmmess, their winning spirit returned like it never left, accumulation of points followed and they chased eventual league title winners, Barca to the last game of the season.
In Europe, Zidane took the team to the finals and won the competition after overcoming series of scares in the quarter finals and the finals, it was a typical performance from the Whites in the tournament.
The next season of the prestigious European competition, Zidane propelled the team to their 12th European crown and their second consecutive Champions League title, breaking the jinx/record that has seen teams fail to retain the trophy since it was renamed.
Next season, the same story followed, he pushed the team to their third consecutive title and their 13th in total. It was a remarkable feat for a man that was just three years into the senior managerial world and with little managerial skills.
Some will argue he won with more of luck than tactics, but when luck meets sheer determination and class, the possibilities of success is very high...
THANKS FOR READING..
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