Zidane’s enduring legacy at Real Madrid and Juventus

• Juventus and Real Madrid meet in FIFA Club World Cup last 16
• Zinedine Zidane holds unique status as an icon at both clubs
• Frenchman's record move from Juve to Madrid rocked transfer market

Not only was Zinedine Zidane one of the most gifted talents of his generation, but he can also lay claim to being an era-defining player at two household names in the global game: Juventus FC and Real Madrid C. F., who go head-to-head for a spot in the FIFA Club World Cup 2025™ quarter-finals on Tuesday.

His trademark elegance, admirable personality and influential impact on and off the pitch live on over two decades after Los Blancos sent shock waves through European football back in 2001, when they shelled out a world-record fee to secure the midfield maestro’s services.

Zidane checked in at Juventus in 1996 after a series of eye-catching performances at Bordeaux attracted the attention of some of the continent’s biggest hitters. At that time, the Vecchia Signora were seeking to establish themselves as a force to be reckoned with on the European stage following the departure of serial goal-getter Roberto Baggio to AC Milan.

Under Marcello Lippi’s tutelage, it soon became apparent that Zizou was anything but your run-of-the-mill footballer, possessing mesmerising control, jaw-dropping vision, a wand of a left foot and contagious composure that quickly spread amongst a star-studded squad assembled to compete for silverware on all fronts.

During a trophy-laden spell in Turin, the Marseille-born schemer captured a pair of Serie A titles (in 1996-97 and 1997-98), a Supercoppa Italiana crown, a UEFA Super Cup winners’ medal and FIFA Intercontinental Cup™ glory, while inspiring Juve to the UEFA Champions League showpiece in back-to-back seasons (1996-97 and 1997-98), only to finish on the losing side on both occasions.

“With Zidane in your team, you just knew that, at any given moment, he was capable of producing something that’d change the whole complexion of the match,” Juventus icon Alessandro Del Piero once reflected. The erstwhile Italian sharpshooter is often quick to highlight his former partner in crime’s unflustered nature: “He was a silent leader. There was no need for him to go around shouting. He just did his thing on the pitch, and the rest of us understood exactly what we needed to do.”

During his five-year stint with the Bianconeri, Zidane racked up 212 competitive appearances, which yielded 31 goals and countless assists – which, regrettably, do not always find their way into the annals. To many, his time at Juventus proved very much the making of a balletic baller who was part of the French squad that bagged bronze at the 1993 edition of the Mediterranean Games and went on to inspire Les Bleus to FIFA World Cup™ glory on home soil in 1998.

Zidane’s impact at Juve is often considered to be two-pronged: in pure footballing terms and on a symbolic level. He was the epitome of a whole playing style, bringing a penchant for possession football, patience and the talent to unlock the notoriously impregnable Serie A backlines. However, in 2001, there was to be a twist in the talented technician’s tale that would rewrite the destiny of both his career and that of the club he would then call home: Real Madrid.

In July of that year, and 12 months into his first term in the presidential hot seat, Florentino Perez upped the stakes in his Galacticos policy: splashing out a record-breaking €77.5 million to add Zidane to a cohort of prized jewels that included Luis Figo and Raul. The deal made Zidane the most expensive player in world football, with the transfer revolutionising the whole landscape of star signings and cementing Real Madrid’s status as a club prepared to go to any lengths in its efforts to combine marketing strategies with the quest for on-field success.

After joining Los Merengues, Zidane wasted little time in proving that he was worth every last euro. He was recruited for the elegance that he would bring to a dressing room bursting at the seams with global superstars and for his ability to conjure up on-field magic. He produced one particularly memorable moment in the 2001/02 UEFA Champions League trophy decider against Bayer Leverkusen, unleashing a sumptuous left-footed volley that is widely regarded as one of the most iconic goals in the history of the continental competition.

The talismanic Zidane connected with Roberto Carlos’s inch-perfect cross to send a brilliantly executed effort hurtling beyond the powerless Jorg Butt. The wonder-strike, which came on the stroke of half-time, turned out to be the winner as the Spanish capital club secured a ninth continental crown.

During his five-season spell as a Madridista, the Frenchman amassed 227 appearances and found the net 49 times, but he is perhaps best remembered for treating the Madrid faithful to masterclasses in football in its purest form, including gravity-defying control and awe-inspiring assists that propelled Los Galacticos to a whole new level.

The late Alfredo Di Stefano, an undisputed legend of the game, was gushing in his praise of the unassuming Zizou: “He brings the ball under his spell, he’s a walking spectacle and plays as if he had silk gloves on each foot. He alone is worth the entrance fee. He’s one of the greatest players I’ve ever seen.”

Such was Zidane’s impact at the Santiago Bernabeu that his legacy extends beyond his playing career, on which he called time in 2006. After hanging up his boots, he would return to the club to serve as an ambassador, a consultant and as coach of the B team (Castilla) before being handed the reins of the senior side. His tenure in the dugout, which spanned two spells, only served to enhance his legacy as he masterminded triumphant Champions League campaigns in three successive seasons (2015/16, 2016/17 and 2017/18).

In any modern-day rundown of the greatest signings ever made, the move that saw Zidane swap Turin for Madrid in 2001 remains right up there. The significance of the switch owes not only to the sum involved, which rocked the very foundations of the transfer market, but also because of what it meant to Juventus – who reinvested the fee in their squad in a bid to retain their seat at the top table of Italian and European football – and, in particular to Real Madrid, who reinvented themselves on the basis of Zidane’s enviable elegance.

Over 20 years on, the Frenchman’s legacy as an icon and a generation-defining player is very much alive and kicking, offering us a handy reminder that sometimes those with finesse manage to reign supreme in the silverware stakes.

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