Attributing Real Madrid’s recent successes to their manager Zinedine Zidane, former striker and Spain international Fernando Morientes said retaining the Champions League title would be the team’s major focus this season.
Morientes, who netted 72 goals in 182 appearances for Real between 1997 and 2005, hailed the current team as “highly competitive” and felt that they should be able to retain the title under the guidance of Zidane.
“The team are very competitive and can produce that magic again with Zidane on their side. Since he joined Real, there has been a sense of calm in the dressing room. He has been a Real Galactico.
“He has had such huge success as a player that he knows what exactly needs to be done at the highest level,” said Morientes on the sidelines of the inaugural event of the La Liga office in India.
As for the La Liga competition, it has become a battle between Real (most titles) and Barcelona (champions), and the 40-year-old said that becoming the best Spanish team has been on Real’s target list.
Morientes maintained that the period between 2008 and 2012 (two Euro Championship and one World Cup) had been the golden era of Spain, and the current team might not be able to match the success of the team comprising Xavi Hernandes, Andres Iniesta, Carlos Puyol and Fernando Torres. “That was the most amazing era of the Spanish football. There have been a lot of changes since then maybe in gameplan, style etc. But one has to go and the new players can take motivation from their former stars’ success.
“The team are relatively new and they just need time and good preparation to reach the level of other top European teams like World Cup champions Germany.”
Spain made early exits in the 2014 World Cup and Euro 2016.
On his memorable moments as a player, Morientes said “winning the Champions League titles with Real Madrid in 1998, 2000 and 2002 was the best. It was also a dream come true sort to become a Galactico.”
He was a bit reluctant to pick between Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo when asked who the current best footballer in the world was but as a former Real player, he picked up CR7.
“Both have achieved success but Ronaldo is very good, he is complete player in the sense of getting goals... If a player is getting 50 goals in a season, that is something special.”
