"Nothing better than winning the UCL with the white shirt" - Zinedine Zidane on winning the Champions League with Real Madrid
Legendary Real Madrid manager Zinedine Zidane has described the feeling of winning the UEFA Champions League with Los Blancos. The 1998 FIFA World Cup winner won the title four times with Madrid, once as a playe and thrice as coach.
Following his move from Juventus, Zidane played a key role in Madrid's 2002 UEFA Champions League win. After Raul's eighth-minute opener at Hampden Park against Bayer Leverkusen, the German side were back on level terms within six minutes through Lucio.
However, Zidane scored a spectacular first-time volley winner on the stroke of half-time, proved to be the winner as Los Blancos won the Champions League for the ninth time. The Frenchman said about that strike (as per Madrid Xtra via Managing Madrid):
“The best, most beautiful and important one, I think is the goal against Leverkusen. We needed this goal to win the Champions League.”
Fourteen years later, Zidane won the competition - the first of an unprecedented three straight titles - with Los Blancos. He said about that triumph:
"There’s nothing better than winning the Champions League with the white shirt."
The legendary Frenchman has been away from management since ending his second Los Blancos stint in the summer of 2021.
When Real Madrid icon Zinedine Zidane picked his GOAT
Zinedine Zidane is widely regarded as one of the best players to have graced the beautiful game, having enjoyed success both during his playing days as well as from the touchline.
However, the Frenchman has a different GOAT - picking Cristiano Ronaldo in an interview dated 2017 (as per Bola VIP). He had said about the former Los Blancos player at the time:
"Cristiano (Ronaldo) is the greatest player in the history of football. Many players have made history, but what he has achieved, no one else has done. The numbers are there. it’s truly impressive.”
He added with a smile:
“If you ask me, I was clearly better. But you all know what I think — Cristiano is on another level, though I had a pretty good career too."
Indeed, Cristiano Ronaldo has racked up jaw-dropping numbers. The 39-year-old last week scored his 900th career goal for club and country in Portugal's 2-1 UEFA Nations League win over Croatia in Lisbon.
The Al-Nassr striker - who scored a record 450 times in nine seasons with Real Madrid - was also on the scoresheet as Roberto Martinez's side won 2-1 at Scotland three days later.