Real Madrid have announced in a club statement that Zinedine Zidane has decided to leave the club. They expressed their respect for his decision and their appreciation for his professionalism, dedication and passion, labelling him a legend of the club and reminding him that the Santiago Bernabeu will always be his home.
It’d been an open secret for some time now that Zidane was going to take his leave at this season’s end. It’s been evident that the club needed an injection of fresh blood, that a cycle was ending, and Zidane himself didn’t feel that he was the man to lead it.
Zidane returned to the Santiago Bernabeu for a second spell as coach in 2019, after leaving the summer before. He led Los Blancos to the league title last season and the semi-final of this season’s Champions League, but the last-day concession of La Liga to Atletico Madrid and the nature of their two-legged semi-final defeat to Chelsea has signalled that the time has come for both parties to part ways.
