Zidane’s position at Real Madrid appears under threat as the Champions League magic begins to fade

French toast | Zidane last night as his Real side are beaten 3-0 in Paris
AP Photo/Francois Mori
Ben Hayward19 September 2019

Zinedine Zidane’s Real Madrid return has hit its lowest point.

There had been optimism ahead of Wednesday night’s trip to Paris Saint-Germain due to Zidane’s impeccable record in the continental competition.

As coach, he has never not won it, winning three successive European Cups between 2016 and 2018. But after the 3-0 defeat in Paris, it’s unlikely that run will be extended.

Facing a PSG side without Neymar (suspended), Kylan Mbappe and Edinson Cavani (both injured), this had seemed an ideal time to visit the French champions.

Madrid had absences of their own, with Luka Modric, Isco, Sergio Ramos and Marcelo all out, but the line-up Zidane picked was pretty much the one fans wanted to see.

In Pictures | PSG vs Real Madrid | 18/09/2019

1/22

Eden Hazard made his full debut in a new-look attacking trident alongside Gareth Bale and Karim Benzema, with James Rodriguez behind in the role of playmaker.

Yet Real could not muster a shot on target over 90 minutes (aside from correctly ruled out strikes from Bale and Benzema) for the first time in a decade. And they have played 558 matches in that time.

Zidane’s side also conceded three times and it could have been more. A former Madrid icon, Angel Di Maria, found space at the near post to beat Thibaut Courtois for the opener. The Belgian should have been covering that part of his goal and it was yet another mistake as his predecessor and former rival Keylor Navas made his PSG debut with a clean sheet at the other end.

Di Maria was allowed time and space to hit a sweet strike for 2-0 and Thoms Meunier added a third later on. It was no more than PSG deserved. And no less than what Madrid merited.

“We lacked a lot of intensity,” Zidane said. “At this level of competition, when you lack intensity, it’s complicated. In every loose ball, we lost the duels. That’s how I summarise it. There’s nothing after that.”

Zidane often speaks of intensity when his Madrid side are beaten. But while PSG were quicker and slicker in midfield, Real had plenty of the ball as well: 48% possession in total. The problem was what they did with it.

Madrid’s midfield was slow and static. Movement was poor and apart from long balls for Bale to chase down the right, there was little in terms of a clear tactical plan.

Photo: AFP/Getty Images
AFP/Getty Images

Even now, Zidane appears reliant upon individual brilliance to get through games and with Cristiano Ronaldo no longer at the club, that is much more difficult at this level.

Meanwhile, the Parisians dominated despite the absence of their three star forwards and that owed much to Thomas Tuchel’s tactics, which combined an impressive work-rate with clever positional play.

Idrissa Gueye was particularly impressive: the former Everton midfielder was everywhere and highlighted just what Real Madrid were lacking.

While PSG were quicker and slicker in midfield, Real had plenty of the ball as well: 48% possession in total. The problem was what they did with it."

Zidane had wanted to bring in an all-action midfielder in the summer, with Paul Pogba his top target, but failure to sign one at all now looks like a big mistake. Especially if the Frenchman believes “intensity” is the real issue.

“There was a lack of strengthening in midfield to take Real Madrid to another dimension,” the club’s former striker Jorge Valdano said on Onda Cero. “We expected more signings, especially in midfield.”

Madrid did spend over €300 million in the summer, but the much-hyped rebuild did not quite materialise, with only Hazard a guaranteed starter of the new recruits. Two others, Ferland Mendy and Eder Militao, played last night but are not game-changing signings. And striker Luka Jovic is a player for the future.

“We had a bad day, but I want Madrid fans to be relaxed,” James said. “There are always bad days and that happened today. If we play another game like that, it’s because we are stupid.”

The Colombian also spoke of intensity and that is part of it, but above all Madrid need to play better football and six months into Zidane’s second spell in charge, there is little sign of a clear plan.

“The season looks like the last one,” former Madrid striker Predrag Mijatovic told Cadena SER. “I don’t see Zidane qualified to find solutions.”

But that is exactly what he has to do. Since his return, Madrid have won just seven of their 16 games, drawing four and losing five. They have also conceded 23 times in those matches and barely half a year since he walked back into the Santiago Bernabeu as a supposed saviour after the troublesome tenures of Julen Lopetegui and Santiago Solari, his position appears to be under threat.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in