Zinedine Zidane has made a sensational return as coach of Real Madrid after Santiago Solari’s sacking was finally confirmed yesterday. Zidane has been given a contract until June 2022, just nine months after he resigned at the end of last season, having led Madrid to an historic third consecutive Champions League triumph. Solari’s dismissal was expected after three consecutive home defeats — to Barcelona, twice, and Ajax — deemed Madrid’s season all-but over before the middle of March. But Zidane coming back, with only 11 games left in La Liga and almost nothing to play for, is a surprise, particularly after he left on the incredible high of yet another European triumph.
“Real Madrid’s board has decided to terminate Santiago Solari’s contract as coach of the first team,” read an official statement yesterday. 
“Real Madrid appreciates the work done by Santiago Solari and the commitment and loyalty he has always shown to this club. The board has also agreed to the appointment of Zinedine Zidane as the new coach of Real Madrid with immediate effect for the remainder of the season and the next three, until June 30, 2022.”
Like Solari, Zidane had been in charge of Real Madrid’s reserve side, Castilla, when he was promoted in January 2016. Madrid finished second that year before going on to win La Liga in Zidane’s first full season in charge. They were unable to repeat the feat last term and finished 17 points behind Barcelona but domestic disappointment was almost forgotten as Zidane again oversaw success in Europe, with a victory over Liverpool in the final in Kiev.
 Immensely popular with most of the players, Zidane’s appointment will almost certainly lift morale in the dressing room, following a week in which captain Sergio Ramos has reportedly argued with club president Florentino Perez and been involved in a training ground spat with Marcelo.
Gareth Bale was one of the few to suffer during Zidane’s previous spell in charge, with the pair barely on speaking terms in the run-up to the Champions League final. Bale’s future now appears in serious doubt unless their relationship can be quickly repaired. The Welshman might have left last summer had Zidane stayed but instead it was Cristiano Ronaldo that departed and the Frenchman now takes over a team missing the Portugese’s goals and in urgent need of reform.
Despite Madrid’s dominance in the Champions League, there is ground to make up in La Liga, where Barcelona are on course to seal their eighth league title in 11 years. Madrid sit 12 points adrift of Barca in the table despite a 4-1 victory over Real Valladolid on Sunday, which proved to be Solari’s final game in charge. Solari was handed a contract until 2021 after overseeing an improvement following the sacking of Julen Lopetegui in November. But familiar problems, including a lack of goals and a leaky defence, resurfaced in February as a defeat at home to Girona was quickly followed by losses to Barcelona in the league and cup, and humiliation by Ajax in the last 16 of the Champions League.

Ramos takes responsibility 
for Real Madrid woes 
Earlier yesterday, captain Sergio Ramos says he takes the blame for Real Madrid’s “deeply disappointing” season. Ramos posed a series of questions to himself on social media yesterday in the hope that his answers would be “the most honest way” to tackle speculation surrounding the club. “As footballers we like to do our talking on the pitch but this season is not turning out that way,” Ramos wrote. “Recent events have been disastrous and I’m not hiding. We are not hiding. We the players are primarily responsible and I, as captain, more than anyone.”
Ramos has been at the centre of Madrid’s problems in recent weeks. He was suspended for the defeat to Ajax after deliberately picking up a yellow card in the first leg and, sitting in the stands for the return, Madrid’s captain was then pictured filming a documentary as his team-mates were beaten 4-1.
“Was the yellow card in Amsterdam an error? Absolutely it was an error and I take the blame 200 per cent,” Ramos wrote.  “Why did you record the documentary? There are certain commitments made and it never remotely went through my head that the game could have turned out as it did. The recording itself was scaled down as the game went on.”
Ramos was reportedly engaged in a heated argument with club president Florentino Perez after the game, in which he countered accusations of unprofessionalism by attributing Madrid’s problems to bad planning at the top of the club. “Did you argue with the President in the dressing room? Dressing room issues are discussed and resolved in the dressing room,” Ramos wrote. “There’s no problem whatsoever and everybody has the same interest: Real Madrid.”
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