Zinedine Zidane raves about City-Coach Guardiola in the highest tones.
Real Madrid coach Zinedine Zidane goes into the duels between the two teams in the Champions League round of 16 with the greatest possible recognition for his Spanish colleague Pep Guardiola of Manchester City.
“It’s going to be special for me. I’ve played him many times before. I respected him a lot as a player and now as a coach. He’s the best coach in the world,” Zidane said at the Royal’s press conference ahead of Sunday’s league match against Athletic Bilbao.
Zidane looks forward to Guardiola
According to Zidane, Madrid’s star ensemble around German international Toni Kroos is already eagerly awaiting comparisons with the team of Bayern Munich’s former championship coach (26 February and 17 March).
“We are all looking forward to playing against his team,” the Frenchman described his team’s motivation for the upcoming matches in the premier class.
Zidane won the most important title in European club football three times between 2016 and 2018 with Real as just the third coach. Guardiola led FC Barcelona to the European throne twice.
Both also belong to the elite circle of only seven coaches who, prior to their at least two successes in the premier league as coaches, also won the Champions League twice as players.