Zinédine Zidane joined Real Madrid as coach in January 2016, with the season already underway. Before that he had only coached Real Madrid Castilla, the Real Madrid reserve team which plays in the Spanish third division.
Shortly after Zidane’s arrival the quarter-finals of the Champions League started, which Real Madrid had qualified for and would play AS Roma, another team which had recently changed coach. The duel between the two new coaches was won by the Frenchman with Real Madrid and after the quarter-finals they strode on to victory.
Not many people would have thought that the new coach Zidane could immediately win, after just 5 months at the helm, the Champions League, the most important European trophy, a victory to which he then added, in August 2016, the UEFA Super Cup. These victories helped him win an individual award as Best New Coach of the Liga for 2016.