The memory is fresh. Real Madrid celebrated the Champions League title in Kiev, after an exhibition by Cristiano Ronaldo, but anticipated a bitterness … or two: the Portuguese and coach Zinedine Zidane would leave.
It was in 2018 when, surprisingly, the team that threatened the most in Europe lost its scorer and the captain of the boat with a stroke of the pen. The former was never replaced and only this season did Benzema take over. For the second, Julen Lopetegui and Santiago Solari were burned on the road until, again, the Frenchman had to return.
But the elimination of the Champions League at the hands of Manchester City was consummated and Zidane seemed evasive, uncomfortable before the question of the renewal. He did not assure anything and that, necessarily, triggered the fears and rumors.
In that 2018 the DT was convinced that the squad he had how to continue winning titles. Now that he has returned he has found a more or less similar group, he has incorporated players like Hazard, who have been a disappointment, and he has had to accommodate the Brazilians Vinicus and Rodrygo in the face of Asensio’s loss due to injury, who to his happiness is already recovered. And he has also encountered the same problems of the past, with players like James and Bale who are still in the squad even though they are invisible to him.
Florentino Pérez works overtime to get what the coach wants, he tries to get those he no longer wants to see and achieve favorable deals to give Zidane the wardrobe he wants. But he knows, after Manchester, that he may well receive another call like the one two years ago to make his resignation official.
¿Plan B?
Well, that was also in 2018 when Zidane left and the name that first came to mind, according to the protagonist himself, was Julian Nagelsmann.
“We had phone calls, but in the end the one who decided was me. I believed that it was still not the right step to go to Real Madrid … I was one of the candidates and the list was not very long. For me, it was very important I had a good talk with José Ángel Sánchez and we decided that it was still not the right step, “said the German DT himself, who today is in charge of Leipzig, Atlético de Madrid’s rival in the Champions League.
“We agreed that we could talk again in the future if Real Madrid needed a coach … and I was available,” he said … And it is not that he is available, but in these times of crisis an irrefutable offer is all that It is needed to change of scene. Is it a plan B? The German is young and knows what to wait. Besides, the Bayern Munich offer that he wanted so much in the end did not crystallize, so it may be that his moment is now .. Now, as before, everything depends on what Zinedine Zidane wants.
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