To suggest Zinedine Zidane has enjoyed a fruitful relationship with the Champions League while at Real Madrid, both as a player and a coach, would be putting it mildly.
In May 2002, his first campaign at Real Madrid as their most high-profile Galactico ended in glorious fashion as Los Blancos became kings of Europe for the ninth time by beating Bayer Leverkusen 2-1 at Hampden Park in Glasgow.
The game’s defining moment came on the stroke of half-time, when Zidane registered the winner by powering home a sumptuous 20-yard volley with his weaker left foot – regarded by many as the greatest goal in the history of the competition.
A long 12 years later, Madrid were still waiting for their 10th European triumph after a series of disappointments. Zidane was now on the bench, having being appointed to assist his old friend Carlo Ancelotti at the start of the season.
We all know what happened next, with Sergio Ramos’s injury-time equaliser against today’s opponents Atletico Madrid in Lisbon sparking a revival which allowed the Bernabeu giants to end their agonising wait for La Decima – ‘the tenth’.
On Saturday night, Zidane has the chance to cap an admirable start to his senior managerial career by leading Real to yet another Champions League triumph in a repeat of that 2014 final.
Whatever happens, he has done an excellent job since being appointed to replace the beleaguered Rafa Benitez in January, and even a convincing defeat on Saturday night should (but, thanks to the caprices of club president Florentino Perez, won’t necessarily) result in Zidane retaining his position for the start of next season.
He inherited, don’t forget, a complete shambles.
Under Benitez, Real had won just four of their last eight league games, been thrown out of the Copa del Rey for fielding an ineligible player, been hammered 4-0 at home by Barcelona and found themselves confronted by newspaper headlines of internal discord nearly every day.
Into this unhappy situation walked a man whose only previous managerial experience was 18 moderately successful months with the club’s reserve team.
Zidane’s appointment was a big gamble, and in the opening weeks there were signs it was set to backfire as his new team dropped points with unconvincing performances against Real Betis and Malaga, before losing limply at home to local rivals Atletico.
Zidane: "Simeone has done it all and I have so much more to learn." #UCLfinal pic.twitter.com/OthlQxb9pD
— Champions League (@ChampionsLeague) May 26, 2016
After all the eulogies which had greeted his arrival, after that derby upset it was time for Zidane to show his teeth and prove he could take the tough decisions necessary for coaching success. And he did exactly that, abandoning the compromise 4-3-3/4-4-2 hybrid formation which had allowed him to field either Isco or James Rodriguez in the opening weeks of his reign.
From that moment onwards, those two were out of his strongest 11 and Casemiro, who had only started seven league games all season and none since mid-December, was in.
The results have been impressive, with Casemiro’s physical presence shoring up a previously leaky midfield and providing a more balanced approach, leading to 12 consecutive league wins and a place in Saturday night’s final.
Until now, Zidane could not have done much more to suggest he can become a great manager, and now comes another opportunity on one of his favourite stages.
It’s not as though he has somehow cast a magic spell in this competition – he has also suffered heartache, losing two consecutive finals (against Borussia Dortmund in 1997 and Real in 1998) during his playing days with Juventus.
But in Madrid, the combination of Zidane plus Champions League has generally equalled glory, and his presence on the sidelines will undoubtedly provide his players with an additional ounce of self-belief as they bid to prolong a remarkable sequence.
At the end of Zidane’s first season as a Real Madrid player, he won the Champions League; at the end of his first season as a Real Madrid assistant manager, he won the Champions League.
And now, at the end of his first season as Real Madrid manager… A unique personal hat-trick is on for a man whose career has been punctuated by the unique.
