Unexpected bombshell in Madrid. Zinedine Zidane, in a last-minute press conference at Valdebebas, the home of Real Madrid's training facilities, has announced he won't stay at the club next season: "I think that this team has to keep winning and needs a change. After three years it needs another voice and another work methodology". The French coach is stepping aside after winning the Champions League in a match against Liverpool last Saturday.
EFE
"It might be a 'see you soon' because Madrid has given me everything. I will be close to this club for my whole life. The decision, for many, maybe doesn't make sense", said Zidane, "I'm not tired, but I'm not looking for another team".
The French coach denied that his resignation, previously announced to the team's players and directors, was motivated by the renovation of an ever-older team: "having the respect of the players has been fundamental for achieving the objectives, but the decision is mine alone". Zidane, who didn't see himself lifting another Champions League trophy, picked out two specific memories from his time at Madrid: "the best was the League title and the worst, the defeat against Leganés in the Copa del Rey".
Florentino Pérez, the club's president, was with Zidane for his announcement: "I would like to have convinced him [to stay], but I know what he's like and I only want to thank him for his dedication and his passion. This is a 'see you soon', because I have no doubt he'll return".
Pérez already knows he has a problem: he'll have to find someone in the coming days to replace the most decorated manager in the club's recent history.
EFE
Madrid will start a new campaign without Zidane, whose contract ran through to 2020, and with question marks over Cristiano Ronaldo and Gareth Bale. The two players have already publicly shown their unhappiness and raised the possibility of leaving the club this summer.
The Champions League has marked in style Zidane's two and a half years at Santiago Bernabéu stadium. The coach has managed to get a group of stars, depressed with Rafa Benítez, to lift three consecutive European cups (or "big ears", as they're called in Spanish thanks to the shape of the trophy), establishing a new European record. His record also includes a La Liga title (2016/17), a Spanish Super Cup (2017), two UEFA Super Cups (2016, 2017) and two FIFA Club World Cups (2016, 2017).