Real Madrid-Barcelona: Zidane has never lost three in a row
The Real Madrid manager has never suffered three consecutive defeats while in charge at the Bernabéu, although he has been close on three occasions.
Zinedine Zidane is on the verge of his 200th game as Real Madrid manager and against Barcelona in Sunday’s Clásico faces a third straight defeat for the fourth time across his two spells at the Bernabéu – something that as yet the Frenchman has never experienced.
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On the three previous occasions Madrid have lost two consecutive games under Zidane, the Real boss has overseen a victory in the third to prevent that unwanted hat-trick from occurring. But with the stakes as high as ever on Sunday – a Barcelona victory will send Quique Setién’s side five points clear at the top of the table – it is a statistic Zidane needs to preserve.
Zidane has always avoided a hat-trick of losses at Real Madrid
In January 2017, Zidane’s Madrid had lost to Sevilla and Celta, but then beat Málaga at the Bernabéu with Sergio Ramos scoring twice. Later the same year, but in the 2017-18 season, Real were once again in a mini-crisis after being beaten by Granada in LaLiga and Tottenham in the Champions League. Madrid had travelled to London with several players missing through injury and were turned over 3-1 by Spurs. However, when Las Palmas visited the Bernabéu, the Canary Islanders were seen off 3-0 with goals from Casemiro, Marco Asensio and Karim Benzema.
The most recent occasion when Zidane faced a treble of defeats was last season. Real were beaten away at Real Sociedad and at home by Betis – then coached by Setién – in the final two games of the 2018-19 campaign. Zidane said that his side would be competitive when the new season started and he took his squad to Balaídos and beat Celta 3-1.
If Barcelona are triumphant on Sunday it will be a first for Zidane, and leave Real Madrid playing catch-up for the rest of the Liga season with a 2-1 deficit in the Champions League against Manchester City also to overcome.