How Zidane's Real Madrid BROKE European Football

In just three seasons, Real Madrid won nine trophies, led by a manager who had never coached a first team before. But how on earth was this even possible? This is the story of how Zidane's Real Madrid quite literally broke European football. Real Madrid have won their third consecutive UEFA Champions League. To understand how Real Madrid conquered Europe, we have to start in the 2014-15 season when Carlo Ancelotti was the Real Madrid manager. This was an off-season for Real Madrid as they picked up no trophies, finishing two points off Barca in the league, losing the Champions League in the semis to Juventus and getting knocked out in the round of 16 in the Copa del Rey. But despite finishing trophyless, Real Madrid were the highest-scoring team in Europe, playing amazing football, and Cristiano Ronaldo had his best individual season ever. But the thing about Real is that, no matter how close they get, a trophyless season is not good enough as the standards are nothing short of success. At this time, Barcelona were the best team in the world, with the famous MSN trio terrorizing Europe and leading them to a tremble, which fueled more anger amongst the Real Madrid fanbase. The team was also in a transitional phase this season, with Xabi Alonso and Di Maria both leaving and new players coming in like Cruz, Navas and James Rodriguez. It was also during this season that Zinedine Zidane was placed in charge of the Real Madrid B team as he was still learning the art of coaching, having never coached a first team before. At the end of the 14-15 season, Carlo Ancelotti was dismissed as Real Madrid felt the need for a new leader and appointed manager Rafa Benitez, but this would not go so well. The 15-16 season saw the iconic Real Madrid team take shape even further, with Casemiro returning from loan, Kovacic and Asensio both signing, and exits from players like Casillas, Hernandez and Khedira. There were now all the tools in place for a great team, they just needed a manager to guide them, and they would soon realize that Rafa Benitez was not that man. He opened the league campaign with a goalless draw against Sporting Gijon, but went on to win the next four in a row, scoring 14 and conceding two. Ronaldo was yet again on fire, having scored five goals in a game against Espanyol, but something just wasn't clicking in this team, because late in September, they drew two games back-to-back against Atletico Madrid in Malaga, making for a rocky start to the league campaign. Despite this, Real Madrid were still heading into November 1st in La Liga until they would suffer their first and second losses of the season with a 3-2 defeat to Sevilla and a 4-0 El Clasico defeat to Barcelona, making that the heaviest El Clasico defeat in over six years. In the Copa del Rey, Madrid started the season with a 3-1 victory, but were disqualified from the competition three days later because they played a suspended player without realising, meaning the Cup campaign was over in just the first round. Looking at the Champions League, Real Madrid stormed the group stage winning five and drawing one with the final game being an 8-0 thrashing of Malmo, where Ronaldo scored four, Benzema three, and Kovacic scored the remaining one. As the year turned, Real Madrid dropped points in a 2-2 draw to Valencia, placing them third in the league behind both Atletico Madrid and Barcelona. And this is when Florentino Perez pulled the trigger, sacking Rafa Benitez mid-season. It was announced that Zinedine Zidane would be promoted to first team manager, and this initially was received with a lot of criticism as he was a completely unproven coach. He was one of the greatest football players of all time and a Real Madrid legend, but there were serious question marks over his managerial capabilities, but this was all just noise and Zidane was ready to prove everyone wrong. The Zidane era was opened with a 5-0 win over Deportivo with a Gareth Bale hat-trick, an ironic start considering how Bale and Zidane's relationship would deteriorate as the years went by. One of the first things Zidane did was introduce Casemiro to the starting lineup as up until this point in the season he was just a squad player. Zidane got off to a great start winning five and drawing one in his first six La Liga games, but then came the end of February where they drew away to Malaga and then in the very next game lost at home to Atletico Madrid. At this point, the gap between Real Madrid and Barcelona had grown to 12 points and it felt like the league was done and dusted already, but this is where something switched. From the 2nd of March, Real Madrid went on to win every single game in La Liga going on a 12-game winning streak including a 2-1 away win against Barcelona which ended their 29-game unbeaten streak. This game was dramatic to say the least with Ramos getting sent off and Real Madrid having a goal ruled out, but thanks to a goal from Benzema and a late winner from Ronaldo, they were able to scrape the victory. By the time May came around, Real Madrid had salvaged their league position and were in with a chance to win it taking the league to the final game of the season where Real beat Deportivo 2-0 thanks to a Ronaldo brace, but unfortunately this was not enough as Barcelona were crowned champions by one point. But the league isn't where the magic happened this season because Real Madrid were able to take home an even greater prize thanks to a historic Champions League campaign. They breezed past Roma in the round of 16 winning both legs 2-0 with Ronaldo scoring one in each, but it's the quarter-finals where things really got dramatic. Real Madrid played the first leg away at Wolfsburg and were beaten 2-0, but it's in these moments where the big players step up and come the return fixture the biggest player of them all was ready. Minute 17 and minute 77 Cristiano Ronaldo walked away with the match ball and Real Madrid marched on to the semi-finals to play against Manchester City. A goalless first leg and a 1-0 win in the second leg would see Real Madrid land a spot in the final and face their city rivals Atletico Madrid. Zinedine Zidane had come into the job just five months earlier and had already transformed this team. Keylor Navas in goal, Ramos and Pepe creating a wall at the back, Marcelo and Carvajal bombing up and down on the flanks. A perfectly balanced midfield with Casemiro as the destroyer, Kroos as the deep line playmaker and Modric as the box-to-box creative and the front three known as BBC, Bale, Benzema and Cristiano. Zidane had some players on his hands as they marched out for war and a war is what they got. Ramos gave Real an early lead with a goal in the first 15 minutes. Just after half-time, Atletico Madrid had the chance to level it but Griezmann missed the penalty but still they clawed it back to 1-1 with a late equalizer. The game went through extra time and headed to a penalty shootout. Vasquez, goal. Griezmann, goal. Marcelo, goal. Gabi, goal. Bale, goal. Saul, goal. Ramos, goal. Juanfran, miss. Ronaldo… Real Madrid lifted their 11th Champions League trophy as Ronaldo finished the tournament with 16 goals and the season with 51 goals which also landed him the Ballon d'Or and Zinedine Zidane finished the first of three historic seasons in Madrid but he was only just getting started. Now entering his first full season in charge, Zinedine Zidane was still receiving criticism and doubters were saying that the increased expectations would cause his team to crumble under pressure but the opposite happened. Zidane's men thrived. Marco Asensio returned from loan and Alvaro Morata signed, adding more depth to the squad. Zidane started to lose trust in Bale due to injuries and a general attitude issue, so there were more rotations in the front line. Real Madrid started the season with a Super Cup victory against Sevilla and carried on with this momentum leading into La Liga winning the first four games and then winning their first Champions League group game against Borussia Dortmund but this fine start would be put into question with four draws on the bounce with three in the league and one in the Champions League. Come the 15th of October, Zidane snapped his men back into action as they thumped Real Betis 6-1 and just carried on winning. On the 19th of November, they travelled to Atletico Madrid and Cristiano showed up with the hat-trick to defeat them 3-0. This Real vs Atletico rivalry is a significant one in this period. Real Madrid beat them in the 2014 Champions League final in the 2016 final and continued to get the better of them in the crucial moments like we'll see later in this season. Real Madrid drew their first El Clasico of the season thanks to a late goal from Ramos and in December, they played in the Club World Cup which they went on to win. In the Champions League group stage, Zidane's men went unbeaten but drew three games meaning they finished second place in the group handing them a harder draw in the knockout stages but that just meant a more exciting journey. It took all the way until the 17th of January for Madrid to lose their first game of the season against Sevilla which ended their 40-game unbeaten streak. The record that they had just broken which was previously set by Barcelona just the year before. Three days later, Madrid lost their second game in a row this time in the Copa del Rey which, unfortunately, knocked them out killing any chance of a treble but come the end of the season, they wouldn't be caring about this cup. Real entered the Champions League round of 16 and won both legs 3-1 comfortably moving on to the quarterfinals where things would get very controversial. Real Madrid won the first leg 2-1 with a Ronaldo brace but it was in the second leg where the controversy occurred. Real were trailing 2-1 but scored three goals in extra time to win the game 4-2 and Ronaldo finished the game with taking home the match ball making it a quarterfinal tradition for him. But if VAR was a thing here two of these goals would have most likely been called offside. But anyway, they were now through to the semis to face their favourite opponents Atletico Madrid. Cristiano Ronaldo scored a hat-trick in the first leg to pretty much seal the tie. Atletico Madrid won the return leg 2-1 but the tie finished in favour of Zidane's team who were on their way to the final to face off against Juventus. Now, during this time, Real Madrid were in a La Liga title race with Barcelona especially after they lost the El Clasico at the end of April. The league title went down to the final game of the season where Real Madrid were in the driving seat holding a three-point lead and a 2-0 victory over Malaga thanks to goals from Ronaldo and Benzema sealed the league for Los Blancos having now truly shown their worth and shifted the tide in Spain from the MSN era to the Zidane era. But with one game left to play in the season Real Madrid had the opportunity to do what no team had ever done before and that was to win back-to-back Champions Leagues in the modern era of the tournament. The formation heading into this final was pretty much the same as the previous year with the only two changes being Varane swapped out for Pepe and Isco swapped out for Bale. The game kicked off and within just 20 minutes Mr. Champions League showed up as he always does to score the first goal of the game. Seven minutes later Mandzukic scored an all-time great goal to give Juventus some hope but as the game progressed they just weren't strong enough to fight off the ruthlessness of Real Madrid with Casemiro, Ronaldo and Asensio all getting on the score sheet to seal the final 4-1 and conclude their second of three historic seasons. Cristiano Ronaldo was the star man yet again this year with goals in the Champions League knockout stages alone as he showed up whenever it mattered. Ronaldo was named the Ballon d'Or winner and Zidane was named the world's best coach as Real Madrid cemented themselves as the best team in Europe yet again. But twice wasn't enough for this team and they weren't ready to stop dominating football and building their legacy so Zidane's men were coming for the three-peat and they were going to prove the doubters wrong once again. Season 3 Oh, right? The 17-18 season began with Pepe leaving after 10 years with the club. Morata and James Rodriguez also made an exit and they signed Theo Hernandez. As per usual, the season began with noise from people saying they can't do it again. Back-to-back was the best this team could do but Zidane's men had something different on their minds. They began the season winning the UEFA Super Cup and the Spanish Super Cup after five games. This derailed the start to the season as they only won two of the first five La Liga matches whilst Barcelona had won all five. Unfortunately for Real, this set the pace for the entire league campaign as they were inconsistent throughout and would struggle to catch Barcelona. In terms of the Champions League, they kicked off the season with a 3-0 win over Apoel but one team in their group were able to get the better of them and surprisingly this was Tottenham Hotspur who took the lead meaning they went to the top of the group and Real Madrid finished second for the second year in a row. But despite this, Cristiano Ronaldo set a new Champions League record being the only player to score in every single group stage match. Come the turn of the year and Real Madrid won the Club World Cup for the second time in a row but in La Liga they sat in fourth place 13 points behind Barcelona which started to create doubts around this team. They never managed to catch Barcelona and in third place 17 points behind the champions. They were also knocked out of the Copa del Rey in the quarterfinals against Leganes but as I'm sure you know this season wasn't about the domestic trophies so let's talk about the European competition. Real Madrid kicked off the knockout stages with a 3-1 victory against PSG with a brace from Ronaldo and a goal from Marcelo. They then won the away fixture 2-1 with another goal from Ronaldo and another from Casemiro sending them through to the quarterfinals. This was a repeat of last year's final and yet again Real Madrid got the better of Juventus but in this fixture history was made. The first leg saw Real Madrid play away at Juventus and they won 3-0 proving a comfortable victory. Ronaldo scored 2 and Marcelo scored 1 but Ronaldo's second goal has gone down as one of the greatest in the history of the sport. This goal saw the whole stadium of Juventus supporters stand up and applaud greatness. With this 3-0 victory the tie should have been done and dusted but as the second leg was played out in the Bernabeu to everyone's surprise by the 60th minute Real were trailing 3-0. But as is just normal at this point Cristiano Ronaldo was there to save the day as a penalty fell into his lap in the 98th minute and he blasted it into the top corner to send Real Madrid to the semis. Up until this point Cristiano Ronaldo had scored in the Champions League season which is quite a crazy statistic. Roll on the semifinals and Zidane's men faced Bayern Munich winning the first leg 2-1 and drawing the second 2-2 thanks to goals from Marcelo, Asensio and a brace from Benzema meaning for the third year in a row Real Madrid would play in the Champions League final and this time against Liverpool. This year Real Madrid definitely had the hardest route to get there having had to play the French champions then the Italian champions and then Liverpool in the final who were on the up and up and actually won the tournament the year after. Zidane chose the exact same line-up as the year before because why change a winning team and that definitely paid off. Now this Liverpool team were having a magical season with the star man being Mo Salah so it came as a massive blow when in the 31st minute he had to go off injured after a questionable tackle from Sergio Ramos. Liverpool fans say it was on purpose to neutralize the danger man. They don't really care as the game carried on. Come the second half Benzema was gifted a goal by goalkeeper Loris Karius who would go on to have a nightmare of a match. Four minutes later Sadio Mane equalized but in the 61st minute Zidane made a substitution that changed the game and it was the man who he had dropped from the first team and had ongoing arguments with for the past two seasons Gareth Bale. Just four minutes after coming on Zidane scored. The only other comparable final goal to this was by Zidane himself who scored an unbelievable volley 20 years prior for Real Madrid. 20 minutes later Bale took a shot from outside the box which should have been a routine save for Karius but the ball swerved and Karius was out of it meaning the ball found the back of the net and Real finished the game three goals to one and just like that Zidane's men lifted their third Champions League in a row completing the three-peat and leaving a legacy like no other. Ronaldo finished the Champions League campaign with 15 goals and the season with 44. Bale finished as Madrid's second top scorer with 21 and Benzema in third with 11. Modric was crowned the Ballon d'Or winner off the back of this season and his World Cup campaign and Zidane was named the Manager of the Year for the second time in a row. Ronaldo and Bale both hinted at leaving in the post-match interview with Ronaldo then announcing his departure to Juventus not long after but the most surprising thing to happen was that a couple of weeks after the final Zinedine Zidane announced that he will be stepping down as Real Madrid manager after the most successful period for the club in the modern era. After Zidane's departure Real took a hit causing an eventual return from Zidane which was not the same love story as this one but that's for another video. You should check out the video on screen now.