Zinedine Zidane suffers first blip of coaching career as Real Madrid crash out of Copa del Rey
Celta Vigo 2 Real Madrid 2 (4-3 agg): The Frenchman must now respond after his side were on the wrong end of a disappointing result for the third consecutive game
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Your support makes all the difference.Real Madrid have crashed out of the Copa del Rey after a 4-3 aggregate defeat to Celta Vigo.
The European champions salvaged a 2-2 draw in Galicia but it was way short of turning over a 2-1 defeat at the Bernabeu last time out.
Danilo's own goal on the brink of half-time handed the hosts a troubling lead but Cristiano Ronaldo gave Madrid hope of one of their famous cup comebacks when he levelled scores on the night just after the hour mark.
For all the attacking bodies they could throw on, Zinedine Zidane's men couldn't break through and Daniel Wass' late second for Celta was the final nail in the coffin. Lucas Vazquez, one of Zidane's offensive substitutions, helped them avoid defeat on the night with a late equaliser but hopes of progression had gone and it represents his manager's first significant failure since replacing Rafael Benitez just over a year ago.
How the sophomore coach - who recently also saw his side's 40-game undefeated streak fall when Stevan Jovetic fired title rivals Sevilla to victory - reacts to this turbulent patch will tell us much about his managerial mettle.
Zidane's influence when he coached the side from out of the championship race to within a point of nicking a La Liga title last season, before winning the Champions League after just five months in charge, was mainly mental and motivational. The players respected him far more than the schoolmaster-like ways of predecessor Rafael Benitez.
Indeed, when asked in the run-up to the Champions League final what Zidane had so significantly changed, the players were left scratching their heads for an answer.
“It's an emotional thing,”... “He is more empathetic to us,”... “the atmosphere in the team is better.”
They all coincided on Zidane being an influence, and he does convey that aura in person despite having very little to say of interest in his media appearances.
So now, with Barcelona and Sevilla rallying in their title challenges, the Frenchman has the first significant blip in his coaching career. A second thorn in a week after virtually a whole year of roses.
How he responds to it, be it tactical tweaks, new personnel or his usual of just keeping tranquilo, will be the subject of many newspaper pages in the Spanish capital this week.
The subsequent results will define his trajectory as a coach.
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