With so much focus justifiably on Liverpool heading into the final, it’s easy to forget what an achievement just reaching the final of this competition in three consecutive seasons is, but Zinedine Zidane and Luka Modric dragged some of the spotlight from the Reds’ terrifying attack with this beauftiful goal from one of their training sessions this week.
Zidane retired in 2006, his final game ending with a swift head butt to Marco Materazzi’s upper torso, but he also left planty of opponents smacking their faces in disbelief at his finesse with the ball at his feet and an unerring ability to perform the seemingly impossible on a football.
There’s no greater example than his Hampden Park volley in 2002’s final versus Bayer Leverkusen, a goal that secured Madrid’s ninth European Cup.
Since then they’ve collected three more, but we think, if the clip below is anything to go by, that the manager should have brought his gear bag to Kiev, because he can still offer something if Madrid need something late in the game.
Just look at this sublime volley from Luka Modric, laid on by Zizou’s beautifully weighted ball:
Zidane assist for Modric in #RealMadrid training. pic.twitter.com/44BCvZLKDI
— World Football Index (@WorldFootballi) May 26, 2018
There’s nothing quite like the sound of a pinged strike snapping against the back of the net.
Allez Zizou.
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