It's official: Zinedine Zidane, the man who led Real Madrid to three UEFA Champions League titles, is back to set things right with Los Blancos. While some fans and experts wanted to see him take yet another challenge before an eventual return to La Casa Blanca, the French boss made his way back to the Bernabeu, where he tried to clarify a few ideas, starting with why he left the club in the first place and what could be his plans for the squad in the next few months.
Speaking in a Q&A session right after being unveiled for a second time with Real Madrid, Zidane left some interesting topics to discuss, and how the team's current situation compares to what he found back in 2016.
About leaving the club back in May 2018: "When I left, I felt that I needed to do so. The locker room and the players needed it. After two and a half years of winning almost everything, some changes had to be done. I know this club, and I have always thought long and hard about what has to be done, including this new challenge".
Regarding other offers to coach: "I had various offers to coach elsewhere, but this is where I wanted to be."
Cristiano Ronaldo back?: "It's not the time to talk about Cristiano Ronaldo. You know what he has done here, his history with the team and that will not change. But it's not right to talk about it now."
A massive overhaul to the team: "We have to change a few things for the next years. But it's not about that now. We have time to talk and see what we need to do. We have eleven games left to play and we want to finish out strong. I love this club and I'm here to work.
A fresh start for Isco, Bale and Marcelo: "I'm back and all of the players that are here have a place in my heart. I'm not going to judge what happened this year with them. I just want to go back to work with them."
What he would change from his past stint: "Last year's Copa del Rey was hard, and we were not able to keep the pace in La Liga. I was here and I'm not going to blame anyone. Lopetegui and Solari tried their best but we all know what happened. Now, we have to look into ourselves and see what we really want."
