Zidane and Celades: friends in Madrid, rivals in Valencia
As players, both were at Real Madrid at the same time for 41 games and will come up against each other as coaches on Sunday.
Real Madrid's trip to Mestalla on Sunday evening will see two friends, Zinedine Zidane and Albert Celades, reunited, but this time from the dugouts of their respective clubs, Real Madrid and Valencia.
Playing days at Real Madrid
Zidane and Celades played together for Real Madrid on 41 occasions: 26 league games (19 wins, a draw and six defeats), ten in the Champions League (the side that won Madrid's ninth Champions League) and five in the Copa del Rey (three wins, a draw and a defeat).
Different paths to coaching for Zidane and Celades
Valencia's incumbent coach joined Madrid before Zidane, signing in 2000 for 12 million euros from Celta Vigo after coming up through La Masía and playing for Madrid's rivals Barcelona. The current Madrid coach signed for Los Blancos in 2001 for a then record fee of 75 million euros. Since their short time together at Madrid, they have never crossed paths professionally, although Celades joined Bordeaux in 2003, the club where Zidane started to make a name for himself, and, in 2018, he joined Lopetegui's coaching staff as the current Sevilla coach took over from Zidane after his first managerial stint at Madrid.
For the first time on Sunday, these two friends will come up against each other for the first time on the sidelines.