20-time Grand Slam champion Rafael Nadal believes Zinedine Zidane is the best person to lead Real Madrid after they crashed out in the semi-finals of the Champions League.
The 34-time La Liga champions lost 2-0 to Chelsea in the second leg of their tie on Wednesday, moving the English team into the final who won 3-1 on aggregate. It is the third year in a row that Real Madrid has failed to reach the trophy match. To put that into perspective they were crowned champions four times between 2014-2018.
Reacting to their loss, world No.2 Nadal says he is ‘proud of his team.’ The Spaniard says his support for Real Madrid stems from his family who backed them whilst he was growing up. Even though his uncle Miguel Ángel Nadal played for Barcelona between 1991-1999. In the past Nadal has even indicated that he would be interested in potentially becoming president of the club one day.
“I have to say I’m very proud of my team,” Nadal said following his win over Alexi Popryin at the Madrid Open.
“With all the difficulties that we (Real Madrid) had during the whole season with, I don’t know, 60 injuries, it was difficult to be where we were until yesterday. Fighting for the two most important competitions we are playing: semifinals in the Champions League, and still fighting for La Liga (trophy).”
Nadal extended his praise to team manager Zidane who is spending his second stint with the club after briefly departing back in 2018 before returning the following year. One media outlet has claimed that the Frenchman could be considering resigning in the near future but there is no confirmation of such a move.
“For me 100% Zidane is one of my favourites, without a doubt,” he stated. “Great person, great values for Real Madrid. I think the season is doing great after all the bad luck with injuries that we had. It’s difficult to ask for more.’
“So if I was the one to decide, of course I don’t have any doubt that Zidane is the right guy to prepare probably the next team.”
At the Madrid Open Nadal’s win over Popyrin is his 53rd in the tournament. He has also extended his perfect record against qualifiers on the clay to 40 wins on the ATP Tour.