The defeat against Shakhtar Donetsk in the Champions League really should sound the death knell for Zinedine Zidane’s time as manager at Real Madrid.
The French World Cup winner certainly built up credit at the club with the multiple title wins in the premier European competition, but as that team has broken up and got older, so Los Blancos’ form and prestige has plummeted.
Let’s be honest. Real Madrid won the Champions League three-peat despite Zidane not because of him.
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He has presence yes, and as a motivator we are told there aren’t too many better.
However, he’s never been known for his tactical nous, and he was perhaps lucky to have had the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo at his peak in order to dig Real out of a hole when needed.
Now the chickens are really coming home to roost for Florentino Perez. Injuries are playing a part this season, but no club has been immune from that.
For the most part Real have looked flat in games and devoid of options and if they end up not qualifying from the Champions League group stages for the first time ever – particularly at a time when the money from the knock-out rounds is required – then Zidane doesn’t have anywhere left to go.