One year of the second 'Zidane era'

On 11th March 2019, Real Madrid reappointed Zinedine Zidane as their coach. This Wednesday it has been one year since the return of the man who guided Real Madrid to three straight Champions League successes. That came just nine months after he left the club.
Neither Julen Lopetegui nor Santiago Solari were capable of coaching a team which had been absolutely dismantled. The Frenchman left thinking he could not get anymore out of that set of players, now without Cristiano Ronaldo, and he left the job to others. But after leaving the Santiago Bernabeu on 31st May, he came back just 285 days later.
In the end, the transition has been Zidane himself, but with the intention of leading a change in generation which starts to be seen with the likes of Vinicius, Rodrygo, Fede Valverde and Ferland Mendy and others who will come like Martin Odegaard and Achraf Hakimi. Some of them are players already favoured by Solari who the Frenchman has given continuity to.
Zinedine Zidane arrived last season for the last few games of the La Liga season with no chance of winning the title and with Real Madrid out of both of the Copa del Rey and Champions League. That fateful week led to the Argentine's sacking. The new Real Madrid project had failed and the club showed faith in Zidane to steady the ship.
The coach began by trying out new players such as Odriozola, Reguilon, Ceballos and Mariano, although Mariano seems back into the action after Luka Jovic was left out. Summer arrived, Hazard and others joined the club and the new Real Madrid got going.
Up to now, Zidane's stats in his second spell read 25 wins, 12 draws and 10 losses in 47 matches. This term his team have been eliminated from the Copa del Rey and need to fight back in the Champions League against Manchester City. In La Liga, they are fighting for the title with Barcelona, but both teams are doing very poorly.
They got better as time went along and then worse again
Zidane's doubts during the first part of the season did not take long to come about. The 3-0 loss to PSG at the Parc des Princes was the first blow and a month later, the final blow was almost dealt when they lost at Mallorca on 19th October. Jose Mourinho, who ended up going to Tottenham, was linked with a move to the Santiago Bernabeu.
But then, the 21 game unbeaten run arrived. The team did not lose a game in 110 days and they were crowned Spanish Super Cup champions. Fede Valverde burst onto the scene. Real Madrid sometimes won easily, other times they just about avoided defeat before the run came to an end versus Real Sociedad in the Copa del Rey quarter-finals. Aleksander Isak and a guy from Real Madrid in Martin Odegaard were those responsible.
This has led to Real Madrid going through their worst spell of the season and in Zinedine Zidane's second spell. Just two wins in the last seven matches in all competitions have made clear that Real Madrid are capable of playing hot and cold. The only positives in recent weeks were the 'Clasico' victory and Vinicius' play given that Hazard has been out most of the season and there is no news of Bale.
After losing top spot to Barca following the defeat to Betis, it has now been one year since Zidane's second spell began. The match against Eibar and the much awaited return leg of the Champions League last 16 versus Man City are next for 'Los Blancos'.