Real Madrid made contact with Pochettino before naming Zidane as their manager
El Larguero on Cadena SER recalled the time when Rafa Benitez was sacked as the Real Madrid manager and the club considered Mauricio Pochettino for the role.
Real Madrid and Tottenham face each other in the Champions League on Tuesday night, which is something that has not happened since Gareth Bale and Luka Modric were Spurs players. They bring a new squad filled with stars to the Bernabéu on Tuesday with the likes of Harry Kane, Christian Eriksen and Mauricio Pochettino.
The Argentine is the key man behind Spurs' rise in the Premier League in recent years. The former Espanyol and Southampton manager was linked with Real Madrid in 2016, however, before Zinedine Zidane took over the team.
After Rafa Benitez was relieved of his duties at the LaLiga club by Florentino Perez, they were considering Zidane as the new man to lead the side. They were aware of the Frenchman's coaching abilities and his success as a player with the club made him a likely home run with the fans, but Pochettino was called and told to hold off on signing a new contract with Spurs before Zidane was named as the coach. According to El Larguero on Cadena SER, he was in the process of renewing his contract with the London club but Real Madrid told him to keep them in the loop.
Eventually, the contact dissipated and the rest is history. Pochettino even wanted to raid Real Madrid for one of their most important players in Isco but that was vetoed by the the board. The two men in charge of both teams that will take to the field on Tuesday night might have had entirely different paths but they have both been successful in the roles they ended up in.
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