Zidane’s place in pantheon of great coaches secure as Real win again

Kiev (AFP) – Considered one of the all-time greats as a player, Zinedine Zidane was lauded with similar respect as a manager on Sunday after making more Champions League history with Real Madrid.

The Spanish giants’ 3-1 win over Liverpool on a dramatic evening in Kiev allowed Zidane to become the first coach ever to win the Champions League in three consecutive seasons.

Incredibly, Zidane has broken new ground in less than three full seasons in charge after being promoted from his position as coach of Real’s youth team to his first managerial role at the highest level in January 2016.

“You can’t help but admire what he has done,” France manager Didier Deschamps, who won the World Cup as a player with Zidane in 1998, told French TV station TF1.

“Already as a player he was an extraordinary player. He’s had a second life as a coach and he is already an extraordinary coach. Achieving three Champions League wins is fabulous.”

Zidane is expected to one day manage France himself, but will be in no rush to move on from Madrid having drawn level with Bob Paisley and Carlo Ancelotti as the only men to oversee three European Cup triumphs.

“I need to congratulate the players as it is not at all easy what they are doing,” Zidane said after the game in the Ukrainian capital.

“There are no words for it. That is what this squad is all about. They have no limit to what they can do.”

Zidane was reluctant to take too much of the credit after seeing his side secure their fourth Champions League title in five seasons, and the 13th in the club’s long love affair with the European Cup.

The 45-year-old also won the trophy as a player for Real, his volley in the 2002 win over Bayer Leverkusen in Glasgow being considered one of the best ever to grace a final — although it was possibly surpassed by Gareth Bale’s overhead kick on Saturday.

“Gareth’s is better than mine,” Zidane said with the selfless sacrifice that has seen him successfully manage to keep a dressing room filled with star names onside.

“Zinedine is the architect of this glorious and possibly unrepeatable era,” said Madrid sports daily AS.

“All this would not have been possible without Zidane. The man of the ninth, and of the 11th, 12th and 13th (European Cups). His disarming and honest smile has infected a team that goes into finals of the European Cup without fear.”

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