Zidane's five biggest achievements as Real Madrid boss

#2 Writing Champions League history

Real Madrid celebrates UEFA Champions League victory

When Zidane had taken the hot seat at the Bernabeu, it barely looked plausible that Real Madrid could win one European Cup, let alone become the first team to defend the Champions League crown in history.

It had been 27 years since AC Milan had won the famous old trophy in back-to-back years, and the competitive nature of the game had been highlighted since by the fact that no other side was able to replicate the feat.

Unfazed by the burden of history, Zidane set about rewriting it in his own hand. All the while that Madrid were edging towards the Spanish title, they were doing likewise in Europe.

Napoli were eased past in the round of 16, after Madrid had progressed as group winners in an uneasy manner under pressure from Paris Saint-Germain. They flirted with elimination at the quarter-final stage, pushed to extra-time by Bayern Munich after losing 2-1 at home, but they eased past Atletico Madrid courtesy of a 3-0 home win, which set up a date with Juventus.

At the Millennium Stadium, it was to be an evening upon which everything went right for Madrid. Cristiano Ronaldo opened the scoring with a deflected shot, and though Mario Mandzukic levelled, Casemiro put the Spaniards ahead again courtesy of another deviated effort. Three minutes later, Ronaldo had his second and the game was finally killed off by Marco Asensio.

Real’s run was not spectacular, but they had a knack for producing the big moments when they were most needed, typifying Zidane’s reign.