El Clásico - Valverde vs Zidane: Which coach has the upper hand?

December 16, 2019 By Oscar Rojas

Topics: La Liga, Barcelona, Real Madrid, El Clásico, Ernesto Valverde, Zinedine Zidane

Let's have a look at how each coach has fared against their rivals on Wednesday with La Liga at stake.

It had been a while since the last time Real Madrid and Barcelona made it to a new edition of El Clásico in the same terms, i.e., both fighting for La Liga. One more thing they can have in common is that, even if both their coaches have earned the necessary results to keep their fans off their back, they face constant criticism from some of their diehard supporters. Be that as it may, having a look at their head-to-head record is something we should do ahead of such a key game.

Valverde, one of Real Madrid's toughest nuts to crack

The former Athletic Club coach is, along with Pep Guardiola and Diego Simeone, one of the most successful coaches against Los Blancos in the 21st Century. Valverde has won nine games against Real Madrid in all comps, although most of those took place when he coached Athletic. Since he took over as Barcelona's tactician, Valverde has won four, with two draws and two losses. He is yet to lose a La Liga game as Barcelona boss against Real Madrid.

Zidane, on the verge of making history at Camp Nou

The French boss has had his bit of problems when facing Barcelona, but that seems to go out the window when Los Blancos have visited Los Culés with the former Ballon D'Or winner at the helm. Zidane has never lost a game at Camp Nou as Real Madrid boss, with two wins and two draws against the Blaugrana side at their own turf. Zidane could set a record for the most Clásicos without a loss, surpassing the legendary Miguel Muñoz if he can get away from Catalunya unscathed this Wednesday.

Valverde vs Zidane: Head-to-head stats

This will be the fourth clash between Ernesto Valverde and Zinedine Zidane coaching Barcelona and Real Madrid, respectively. Out of those four games, Zidane has won two, with one draw and one win for the Spanish boss. If you add Zidane's wins with Los Blancos against Valverde when he coached Athletic Club, you will find out that the French boss has won five, with one draw and one loss against his Catalan counterpart.

So, these are the numbers that could be in the back of each coach's heads when they face each other this week. Will Valverde's unbeaten streak in La Liga continue, or will Zizou reach one more record as Real Madrid's boss? Don't miss the tie to find out!