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The pressure is on Zinedine Zidane like never before after Real Madrid were crushed by Paris Saint-Germain and he is facing the bullet unless things pick up It is fair to say that things have not gone according to plan since Zidane returned to the Bernabeu towards the back end of last season, and Real are now faced with the possibility of having to make yet another managerial change.
Zidane earned cult status as a player and as a coach during his first spell in charge when guiding Los Blancos to three straight European Cups before leaving at the end of the 2017/18 campaign.
Such facts are probably keeping him in a job right now, but it remains to be seen how long for, as patience at boardroom level will be wearing thin.
Zidane’s win ratio since his return to the club has been less than 50percent, which of course is a disaster by Real’s exceptionally high standards.
He can be forgiven for the poor run of results last season as he inherited a squad very low on confidence following a disastrous run of results that saw them way off the pace in the race for La Liga and out of the Champions League.
However, following a summer of rebuilding and bringing in his own new players, hopes were high that Real would be back on track in the new campaign.
This despite the fact the summer did not go entirely to plan. It is possible that he missed out on some of his top targets including Paul Pogba, and got others that he wasn’t convinced about – Luka Jovic. There was the well documented Gareth Bale saga, and talk that all was not well between him and Florentino Perez.
Even so, new players were brought in and Zidane needed a good strong start. That has not been the case and Real have been unconvincing to say the least.
In his defence, Real do have a crippling injury list and are missing some key players. But the manner of the defeat against a PSG side that was missing Neymar, Kylian Mbappe and Edinson Cavani, will have set alarm bells ringing.
Zidane is probably safe for now, but that could change if things do not improve quickly and there are two big La Liga games up next.
Real take on city rivals and league leaders Atletico Madrid this weekend, followed by Sevilla and two defeats could spell the end.
There is even a ready-made replacement waiting in the wings ready to step in. Jose Mourinho is free and available and reports are rife he could come back as he still has a very good relationship with Perez. They say ‘never go back’. Zidane may be wishing he hadn’t and Mourinho could also be wise to think twice if the Frenchman does get the chop.
