Legendary Zinedine Zidane flatly did not choose superstar Cristiano Ronaldo as one of the three most impressive players at Real Madrid.
Recently, former player Zinedine Zidane selected the 3 most impressive players at Real Madrid when the French coach was still leading the team. The 1998 World Cup champion chose Toni Kroos, Luka Modric and Karim Benzema to be on the above list.
When talking about his three selections, Zidane praised their incredible ability to keep the ball in play during matches. He shared: “Which players impressed me the most as a coach? When you see Kroos, Modric and Benzema playing for you for an hour without losing the ball once, that’s football.”
What is worth noting is the absence of superstar Cristiano Ronaldo, who is considered the “key” to opening an unprecedented achievement for Los Blancos by winning the Champions League for 3 consecutive seasons from 2016 to 2018.
Ronaldo’s brilliance during that time helped Zidane become the only coach to date to win the “elephant ear” trophy three times in a row, thereby showing his talent as a coach. In addition, the 51-year-old strategist also won 2 La Liga titles, 2 Spanish Super Cups, and 2 European Super Cups with Los Blancos. The above titles came in two periods (2016-2018 and 2019-2021) when the French coach led Real Madrid.
With the trio mentioned above by Zidane, they also left indisputable marks during their time playing at the Bernabeu. Benzema, the club’s second highest scorer with 354 goals, is second only to Cristiano Ronaldo, who has scored 450 goals. The French player also contributed 165 assists in 648 matches before leaving the team in 2023.
Toni Kroos scored 28 goals and 99 assists in 465 appearances for Los Blancos before retiring this summer. Meanwhile, Modric has scored 39 goals and made 86 assists in 234 matches for Real Madrid. The 2018 Golden Ball shares the title of the club’s most awarded player with Nacho Fernandez, each with 26 titles.
The above duo just together with Los Blancos won the 15th Champions League title in history, this is also the 6th “elephant ear” trophy that this duo has won throughout their career.
