Zinedine Zidane Takes Advantage of Barcelona’s Poor Performance to Win LaLiga Title

DBasia.news – When Real Madrid locked the LaLiga title for the 34th time, a contrasting scene occurred at Camp Nou following Barcelona’s defeat at the hands of Osasuna. Defeat is more felt as the end of a generation than the vanishing of champions.

There is no denying, throughout this season Barcelona struggled hard to overcome the problem called the identity crisis. That was the reason for Ernesto Valverde’s dismissal  in January when Barca were at the top of LaLiga standings.

Then came Quique Setien, a football thinker who never won a big award in his career. On the other hand, Real Madrid only focused on how to win the match.

And of course no one knows how to win better than Zinedine Zidane. In an era when football coaches were expected to become philosophers, Zidane was an anomaly.

For Zidane victory is his philosophy. Everything he did as a coach was directed to ensure his team made it past the finish line first.

Indeed Zidane’s approach often makes his achievements underestimated, often called unsatisfactory. In the last six years it can be said to be the most successful period in Real Madrid’s long history. However, the success of Madrid with Zidane is still compared to Barcelona’s Pep Guardiola era. Madrid’s success this season is proof. Not a few who judge the title of Real Madrid can not be separated from the failure of Barca or good fortune.

Of course not the comment was very disrespectful towards the achievements of Zidane and his team. What Zidane has built can indeed be separated from the ploy tactics, but of course it can be found in the mentality and spirit of the players.

Since LaLiga was held again after the break due to the corona virus pandemic, Real Madrid has won 10 of the 10 matches. They have only lost three times throughout the season, the same amount as Liverpool in the Premier League. Certainly this cannot be attributed to Barcelona’s poor results or a number of referee decisions. Zidane and his players deserve all the results they have achieved.

Zidane’s success proves that in the era of coaches expected to train, there is still room for management skills. Zidane is arguably not a great tactician. But he is a legend who has surrounded himself with people he trusted and knew what was needed to succeed at the level elite. Zidane is a three-time Champions League winner and a two-time LaLiga champion, but somehow there are still those who underestimate him as a coach or manager.

When viewed more deeply, Madrid won the middle of the transition. Can be seen how the progress experienced by Madrid from the beginning to become a champion.

New signing Eden Hazard has improved his performance towards the end of his first season in Spain. But the Belgian still has to really integrate himself. The pandemic pause of three months also revitalized Luka Modric. Rodrygo and Vinicius Junior are still inconsistent and frustrating even though they are brilliant. While Gareth Bale is more a golfer than a footballer.

Despite various disturbances, Zidane was still able to guide Real Madrid through the transition to champions. But an approach that is often labeled pragmatic may not make Zidane considered Guardiola or Jurgen Klopp or even Jose Mourinho.

But one thing is certain, there are very few coaches who can be as effective as on the sidelines and changing rooms like Zidane. “He is the key. He is the captain of this ship,” Sergio Ramos said of Zidane.

“I hope he will be at the club for a long time. He deserves flattery, because he is unique.”

In the past four years Zidane has accomplished a lot, but this time is the achievement that proves that Zidane is able to make a big difference to a team. Yes, this is Zidane’s victory.