Zinedine Zidane to sign long-term contract extension with Real Madrid

Runners-up in the Champions League last season, Atletico nearly completed an improbable comeback in this term’s semi-finals following a 4-2 aggregate loss to city rivals and titleholders Real Madrid.

When Raphael Varane brought down Fernando Torres four minutes later and Antoine Griezmann converted the penalty, the comeback seemed a real possibility.

Real Madrid booked a place in the Champions League final against Juventus on Wednesday following a tense semifinal return leg away at Atletico Madrid in the last European game to be held in the Vicente Calderon stadium.

Real’s Champions League triumphs in 2014 and past year have distracted from rivals Barcelona’s creeping domination in the domestic league, with the Catalan side winning five of the last seven titles.

Atletico played with passion, something that was missing in the first leg, and with the same determination of revenge.

“If we do what we have to, I think we can become champions”. At the start we let in goals that we didn’t want but we knew that it was going to be hard. “But there are steps to take in this process, and you have to take them”.

Dybala isn’t the only admirer Zidane picked up during his playing days, with the Frenchman widely considered one of the greatest players of the modern era first for Juventus and later for Real Madrid following a then world-record move.

A coaching genius might not be needed to coach such talent, but one needs to know the art of managing a group of talent and egos and Zidane has been brilliant at doing so. We need a little bit of patience with the managers, we need to keep all of our better players. “If we don’t give everything then we won’t win our games”. We must continue with our hard work, remain focused, stick to the path that has got us here, with concentration and intensity in every game.

Karim Benzema showed great bits of skill to skip the attention of three Atletico defenders before setting up Toni Kroos, whose shot was stopped by Jan Oblak, only for Isco to bundle the ball in from close range.

Real Madrid are still without Gareth Bale and Dani Carvajal, who pulled a hamstring in the first leg, but Rafael Varene is available and will partner Sergio Ramos in central defence, while Nacho will probably cover at right back.