Real Madrid fans are calling for Zinedine Zidane to be fired after the La Liga giants suffered more humiliation last night.
Fourth in La Liga and already 19 points behind their rivals Barcelona, Los Blancos were knocked out of the Copa del Rey by Leganes. Despite taking a 1-0 lead into the second leg at the Bernabeu, Real were beaten 2-1 by Leganes and went out of the competition via the away goals rule.
Following the defeat to Leganes, the club’s crisis has just got “even worse” says the Spanish newspaper Marca. Describing the Copa del Rey exit as “the most ridiculous night of Zidane’s Real Madrid reign”, the paper’s writers weren’t holding back in their appraisal of the head coach. Another editorial is headlined: “Zidane is under more pressure than ever before.”
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Appointed in 2016, Madrid icon Zidane has achieved huge success in the Bernabeu hot-seat. He has led Madrid to back-to-back Champions Leagues in 2015-16 and 2016-17 as well as the La Liga title, two Uefa Super Cups, two Fifa Club World Cups and a Spanish Super Cup victory.
But this season the club are struggling domestically with only ten wins from their 19 league matches so far. Five defeats and four draws sees Real behind Barca, Atletico Madrid and Valencia in the table.
Speaking after the 2-1 defeat to Leganes, Zidane said: “Yes, it’s a failure for me, clearly. Yes, [I feel] very responsible. It’s a difficult night for everyone. We will look at the situation and I will first because I am to blame.”
In a separate interview and quoted by the BBC, Zidane added that last night’s result was a “fiasco”. The Frenchman said: “My worst moment as a coach. I don’t regret anything I did in the game, though. I take responsibility for what I do.”
Domestically Real have been poor, but in European competition they have qualified for the last-16 of the Champions League where they will face Paris Saint-Germain.
Zidane admits that his future in Madrid could depend on the results against PSG on 14 February and 6 March. He said: “I’m responsible for this, I’m the boss. I have to find the solutions. We’ve found some of them but not consistently enough. I need to take responsibility and I’ll always fight.”
While fans on social media are calling for his sacking by using the #ZidaneOut hashtag, Real Madrid skipper Sergio Ramos has defended the under-fire coach and says the players will “stand up for Zidane”.
Spain defender Ramos admits that being knocked out of the Copa del Rey was a “failure”, but says the squad are also responsible for results on the pitch.
“To fall in the Copa del Rey is a failure,” he told Marca. “These are tough times, but we must be as united as possible and not throw the rest of the season away. You have to learn from bad moments.
“We are all responsible and we hope that this serves some use in the future. We still have the Champions League.”
Real are back in La Liga action on Saturday (3.15pm) when they travel to Valenci, who are five points clear of Madrid in the table.
After being rested against Leganes, Gareth Bale, Luka Modric, Cristiano Ronaldo and Toni Kroos are all expected to return to the Madrid line-up for the trip to the Mestalla Stadium.
If Real fail to produce the goods against Valencia and lose further ground in La Liga, Zidane may not even be around to face Neymar and Co in the Champions League next month.
It’s win-or-bust for Zizou and his Galacticos.
