In just over 24 hours, two of the biggest teams in the world will face off in the event that has everyone talking: El Clasico. Any game between Barcelona and Real Madrid has always been much anticipated affair - and yes, for those old enough to remember, this was even before the rise of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo to prominence.
Saturday's event will be even more interesting due to the rivalry between the two men sitting on the tactician's bench: Luis Enrique and Zinedine Zidane. Both managers will be certainly aware of the intensity during a Clasico match due to having experienced it themselves as players. Ahead of this weekend's biggest match, we take a look at how they compare both during their playing careers and now as coaches of the two most popular clubs on the planet.
Luis Enrique vs Zinedine Zidane: The playing days
Remember that fight between Luis Enrique and Zinedine Zidane back in April 2003? If not, have a look at this video of the two now-managers mixing it up:
That old fight, though... Who do you currently support? Comment with: http://bit.ly/ZidaneIN- Zidane & Real Madrid- Luis Enrique & Barcelona
Posted by LiveSoccerTV.com on Monday, January 4, 2016
Obviously, fans will not see anything like this between the former Spanish and French internationals over a decade later, but the rivalry will definitely be still there. How do they compare in Clasico matches? Who has enjoyed the most success? Let's have a look.
From 2001 to 2006, French icon Zidane featured for Real Madrid after sealing a transfer from Juventus. During that time, he won both a La Liga title and a Champions League trophy, whilst scoring 49 goals in a total of 225 appearances across all competitions.
Re-match: Zidane will face Barcelona star Andres Iniesta yet again...except this time one man will be issuing directions from the tactician's bench
Most important, here is the 1998 Ballon d'Or winner's record in Clasico ties:
- Real Madrid: 11 appearances. Four wins, four draws, and three losses
Zidane also scored three goals, and by far the most important one for Madrid fans was probably during the 2001/2002 Champions League semi-finals, when he netted the first goal for his side at the Camp Nou en route to a 2-0 win.
His tactical counterpart, however, is far more experienced in matches between the two sides. Many people have long associated Luis Enrique with Barcelona, where he spent eight seasons between 1996/1997 and 2003/2004 and scored a total of 109 goals in 300 appearances.
But before then, the current Blaugrana coach was a Real Madrid player from the 1991/1992 to 1995/1996 season, where he netted 18 goals in 213 appearances.
Recognize this bloke? Believe it or not, Luis Enrique was a Madrid man before moving to Barcelona on a free transfer in 1996...
...but this is how many fans might remember the retired Spanish international
In total, Luis Enrique has featured in 29 Clasico matches, whilst scoring six goals. Here is the breakdown:
- Real Madrid: 11 appearances. Three wins, four draws, and four losses
- Barcelona: 18 appearances. Eight wins, seven draws, and three losses
He has also scored for both sides, with his only goal for Real Madrid taking place in a 5-0 rout of the Blaugrana in January 1995. Four years later, in February 1999, he scored two goals for Barcelona in a 3-0 win at Camp Nou.
In total, the Treble winner grabbed five goals for Barcelona, and interestingly enough, also was on the pitch during the 2001/2002 Champions League semi-final, which, as we know, finished in favor of Real Madrid.
Luis Enrique vs Zinedine Zidane: Early beginnings with the youth sides
After hanging up their boots, both men opted to venture into coaching. As per usual, most managers start out with the youth teams before making the jump to the senior team, so let's have a quick look at how they fared with Barcelona and Real Madrid's junior teams.
From May 26, 2008 to June 8, 2011, Luis Enrique was in charge of Barcelona B. During that time, he oversaw 124 matches, with a solid record of 60 wins, 39 draws, and 25 losses; this comes out to an approximate win percentage of 48.4 per cent.
As for Zidane, he managed Real Madrid Castilla from June 25, 2014 to January 4, 2016, when he took over the senior squad after Rafa Benitez's sacking. Over the course of that period, he guided the team through 57 games, and has an equally solid record of 26 wins, 17 draws, and 14 losses, or a win percentage of about 45.6 per cent.
Luis Enrique vs Zinedine Zidane: How do they stack up on the biggest stage?
Finally, we come to the most important event of all - the upcoming El Clasico match. This will be Zidane's first ever Clasico as a senior manager, whilst Luis Enrique has already overseen three games, winning two, and losing one.
Real Madrid fans were probably not too sad to see Benitez go, and Zidane, despite this being his first season at the professional level, has done pretty well for himself.
As of today, Zidane has been on the bench for 14 games, with wins in 11 of them. With just two draws and one loss, it's so far so good for the retired midfielder. This calculates to a 78.57 winning percentage, which indeed is not too shabby for someone who has only been managing one of the world's biggest clubs for just three months.
Meanwhile, as we all know, Luis Enrique had a dynamite debut season as Barcelona's coach - after all, how much better can a coach do than winning a Treble? Overall, his record stands as 90 wins, 13 draws, and just nine losses out of 112 games, or a 80.36 winning percentage.
Of course, anyone should obviously see that he has managed more games than Zidane, but if one looks at just the winning percentage, they are interestingly quite close.
So, who will come out on top this Saturday? It's currently advantage Barcelona, especially following their 4-0 thrasing of Real Madrid earlier this season, but Zidane, who, unlike Benitez, has actually featured in an El Clasico tie, just may have a few tricks up his sleeve.
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