#1 Scores a Champions League-winning volley – May 15, 2002
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The most iconic Zinedine Zidane moment will remain his goal against Bayer Leverkusen in the Champions League final of 2002 at Hampden Park, Glasgow. Not only was it the most important strike of the season, it was a volley of the most glorious technical quality.
Roberto Carlos had charged down the left wing just before half-time, but his delivery into the box seemed to be of no great quality as the ball was lobbed high into the evening. Zidane, though, had watched it perfectly.
Having stationed himself on the edge of the penalty box, he pivoted his hips brilliantly to get into position to execute the perfect left-footed volley. The ball, which had seemed so impossible to time given the height it was dropping from, sprang off his foot and hammered into the back of the net.
It was the goal that sealed Madrid’s ninth European title and there has never been a strike quite like it in all the Champions League showpieces.
Zidane was already a player who was destined to go down as a legend of the game, yet this strike ensured his place in the Parthenon of the all-time greats.
