4 Winners & Losers as Zidane returns to Real Madrid

Zinedine Zidane will take charge of Real Madrid

The UEFA Champions League defending champions, Real Madrid, have been a shadow of themselves this season. Their season seems to have ended already in March as they have been kicked out of both the Copa Del Rey and the Champions League, and in La Liga, they sit in third place, a whooping 12 points off Barcelona who are the league leaders.

Real Madrid replaced Zinedine Zidane with Julen Lopetegui, but it was a disastrous spell for the Spanish coach, and soon he was sacked and replaced by Santiago Solari. His time at Madrid has been topsy turvy. AHis reign started with great promise but soon it disintegrated as the dressing room was disjointed, with the players not rating him highly.

The team looks lost and Real Madrid president, Florentino Perez, has asked the three-time Champions League winner and former coach of Madrid, Zinedine Zidane, to take over the club at least until the end of the season and reports suggest that the Frenchman has taken that offer.

Zidane's return to Real Madrid would be a huge boost for senior players who have already worked with him, but even his arrival has certain problems as well. Here are the winners and losers of Zidane's arrival.

Winner - Isco

Isco will be eagerly looking forward to Zidane's return

Isco has been banished to the reserves by Santiago Solari for unknown reasons although there have been a lot of rumors of a feud between the two. Solari ignored Isco even when the team really needed someone who can create chances from midfield.

At first, Solari had only benched Isco, but as time went by Solari couldn't even find a place for Isco on the bench. He was even dropped for the champions league match against Ajax.

Zinedine Zidane is a huge fan of Spanish international midfielder and was so impressed by the Spanish midfielder's talent that he sent James Rodriguez out on loan just so he could play Isco in his preferred role behind the striker.

Isco played a vital role in all three of the Champions League campaigns under Zidane and the return of the Frenchman could signal the start of a new life at Real Madrid for him.

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Winner - Marcelo

Marcelo will regain his place in the first team under Zidane

Among a plethora of changes Solari made at Real Madrid, benching Marcelo for academy prodigy, Sergio Reguilón was the biggest talking point among the fans and the media alike. This change led to Marcelo being linked with a move away from the Santiago Bernabeu and some reports in Italy suggests that Marcelo could very well be on his way to Juventus in the summer to team up his very good friend, Cristiano Ronaldo.

One of the first changes that Zidane will make in his team is to bring back Marcelo to the first team unless the Brazilian has already decided on his move to Juventus.

Zidane trusted Marcelo as much as he trusted Ronaldo during his tenure as Madrid boss. He always believed that Marcelo can very well be the turning point in any game for Madrid.

The Frenchman would also be looking to persuade him to stay at the Bernabeu and snub a move to Juventus next season.

Winner - Real Madrid youngsters

Zidane is known to give young players a chance and he made Lucas Vazquez and Marco Asensio a household name. If the youngsters can impress Zidane, he will not hesitate to play them in place of a first-team regular.

Players like Dani Ceballos, Marcos Llorente, Federico Valverde could all come in the mix as currently, the Madrid midfield is disjointed in most of the games this season. Also, Asensio could very well become a regular under Zidane as he rates the attacker highly after losing his place under Solari.

Loser - Zinedine Zidane

Zidane might be making a mistake taking over Madrid now

The entire profile of Zidane could be tarnished if he takes up this job. He knows it, Florentino Perez knows it and the fans know it as well.

Zidane has the unique distinction of winning a trophy in every season he has managed the club. By taking over Madrid now, he loses that distinction to his name as the club are literally out of all competitions.

Zidane would have been better suited to take over the club in the summer, as he will get a full pre-season to assess his squad and also the possibility of new signings to shape his team in the way he wants.

This would also give him time to find a potential group of players to give him the 40+ goals that Ronaldo guaranteed him every season. Returning to manage Real at this point in this season could tarnish his legacy as a coach.

Edited by Tobi Amoo