{"id":1675,"date":"2026-01-16T16:20:00","date_gmt":"2026-01-16T08:20:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/insightresearcher.com\/index.php\/2026\/01\/16\/zinedine-zidane-explains-how-he-turned-a-broken-real-madrid-team-into-champions-of-the-champions-league\/"},"modified":"2026-01-16T17:11:11","modified_gmt":"2026-01-16T09:11:11","slug":"zinedine-zidane-explains-how-he-turned-a-broken-real-madrid-team-into-champions-of-the-champions-league","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.insightresearcher.com\/index.php\/2026\/01\/16\/zinedine-zidane-explains-how-he-turned-a-broken-real-madrid-team-into-champions-of-the-champions-league\/","title":{"rendered":"Zinedine Zidane explains how he turned a broken Real Madrid team into champions of the Champions League"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<p>Few managers are as admired by Real Madrid fans as Zinedine Zidane.<\/p>\n<p>Notably, when the Frenchman joined the team in January 2016, the situation was far from stable.<\/p>\n<p>A disappointing run under Rafael Benitez has left the team lacking in confidence and rhythm.<\/p>\n<p>Advertisement<\/p>\n<p>However, what followed was one of the rarest moments in football history, as Zidane guided Real Madrid to three consecutive UEFA Champions League titles.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"heading\">Looking back at his time<\/h2>\n<p>Reflecting on his sudden promotion and the initial doubts he faced, Zidane first recalled the moment he stepped into the role and how quickly the truth hit him.<\/p>\n<p><strong>&#8220;I remember we were preparing for the match against Ebro, we had the opportunity to train with the first team. <\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>&#8220;When I started at Castilla, I had dreams of managing the first team, but after losing three games at the start, I thought that would end.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>&#8220;I knew I was getting into it. We had the best team in the world. <\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>&#8220;I looked at the players and saw that if we work hard we can achieve great things, that happens. <\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>&#8220;We didn&#8217;t want all training sessions to be the same,&#8221; <\/strong>he told Hamidou Msaidie&#8217;s YouTube channel, according to AS.<\/p>\n<p>Advertisement<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"heading\">The problems he faced<\/h2>\n<p>Zidane then explained the biggest problem he encountered when he took over, stressing that the physical condition and collective effort must be fixed immediately.<\/p>\n<p><strong>&#8220;The team was not in a good physical condition, we had to instill in them the idea that they must work as a team. <\/strong><\/p>\n<figure class=\"content-figure\">\n<div class=\"content-image\"><button aria-label=\"View larger image\" class=\"lightbox-btn\" data-ylk=\"elm:expand;itc:1;sec:image-lightbox;slk:lightbox-open;\"><span class=\"lightbox-expand\"><svg viewbox=\"0 0 22 22\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"size-4 lg:size-6\" width=\"22\" height=\"22\"><path d=\"M12.372.92c0-.506.41-.916.915-.916L21 0l-.004 7.712a.917.917 0 0 1-1.832 0V3.183l-6.827 6.828-1.349-1.348 6.828-6.828h-4.529a.915.915 0 0 1-.915-.915M1.835 17.816l6.828-6.828 1.349 1.349-6.829 6.827h4.529a.915.915 0 0 1 0 1.831L0 21l.004-7.713a.916.916 0 0 1 1.831 0z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/button><dialog aria-label=\"Image Lightbox\" class=\"lightbox-overlay\" aria-modal=\"true\"\/><\/div><figcaption class=\"fig-caption\"\/><\/figure>\n<p>Zidane made Real Madrid the king of Europe. (Photo credit: GLYN KIRK\/AFP via Getty Images)<\/p>\n<p><strong>I met the four captains and told them what I wanted, to see if they were willing. When they agreed to work, that was it. <\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>&#8220;We found their motivation again. We made them run. Physical activity was important.&#8221;<\/strong><\/p>\n<h2 class=\"heading\">Facing derbies<\/h2>\n<p>The former Madrid manager also revealed the brutal message he sent to the team when they faced their biggest rivals, Atletico Madrid and FC Barcelona.<\/p>\n<p>Advertisement<\/p>\n<p><strong>&#8220;I told them that if we play against Atleti or Bar\u00e7a, we will lose 100%. <\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>&#8220;In January, we couldn&#8217;t beat them, but at the end of the season, we beat them both. Bar\u00e7a in La Liga and Atleti in the Champions League.&#8221;<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Zidane also opened up about his relationship with the players and why trust was the basis of his success.<\/p>\n<p><strong>&#8220;At Real Madrid, we were there because of the players, if you don&#8217;t understand that, you can&#8217;t stay in this industry. <\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>&#8220;If the players don&#8217;t agree with everything that&#8217;s being offered, the training sessions, all that&#8230; something will always be missing. With us, I think they&#8217;ve enjoyed it a lot on all levels.&#8221;<\/strong><\/p>\n<h2 class=\"heading\">Confidence within the group<\/h2>\n<p>Finally, Zidane explained how confidence and competition within the team were non-negotiable during that golden age.<\/p>\n<p>Advertisement<\/p>\n<p><strong>&#8220;We have put a lot of confidence in the players. <\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>&#8220;If a competitive player is happy to practice and go out to play, I try to make them see that they are all important. <\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>If they didn&#8217;t train well, they couldn&#8217;t play. If you know on Monday who will play on Saturday, that&#8217;s bad. Players who do not play will not train properly,\u201d<\/strong> concluded the former coach of Real Madrid.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Few managers are as admired by Real Madrid fans as Zinedine Zidane. Notably, when the Frenchman joined the team in January 2016, the situation was far from stable. A disappointing run under Rafael Benitez has left the team lacking in confidence and rhythm. Advertisement However, what followed was one of the rarest moments in football &hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1676,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[56],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1675","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-breaking-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.insightresearcher.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1675","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.insightresearcher.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.insightresearcher.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.insightresearcher.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.insightresearcher.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1675"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.insightresearcher.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1675\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1677,"href":"https:\/\/www.insightresearcher.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1675\/revisions\/1677"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.insightresearcher.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1676"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.insightresearcher.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1675"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.insightresearcher.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1675"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.insightresearcher.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1675"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}