Zinedine Zidane has resigned as the manager of Real Madrid after the club suffered a defeat in the La Liga title by Atletico Madrid.
His resignation comes the end of a disappointing campaign for the 13-time European champions, who also lost to Chelsea in the Champions League semi-finals as they failed to win a trophy for the first time in 11 seasons.
The news of Zidane’s resignation was broken by Italian football journalist Fabrizio Romano however, the club is yet to make an official announcement on the development.
Only 10 days ago Zidane, who has a contract until 2022, denied media speculation that he had already told his players that he would be leaving at the end of the season.
“How am I going to tell my players that I am going now? It’s a lie,” he said after a 1-0 win at Athletic Bilbao.
“I focus on this season. There is a game left and we are going to give everything. I only care what happens in this finale. The rest, we will see at the end of the season,” he added.
Zidane, a 1998 World Cup winner, first took the helm in January 2016 and guided Real to the 2017 La Liga title and an unprecedented hat-trick of Champions League titles before abruptly quitting on May 31, 2018.
He returned in 2019, winning a second La Liga crown in 2020 and the Spanish Super Cup.