Madrid (AFP)

Zinédine Zidane challenges Thomas Tuchel, whom he has never beaten: the French coach, triple European champion with Real Madrid, finds in the semi-final return of the Champions League the former Parisian technician, now in search with Chelsea in a second consecutive final on Wednesday (9 p.m.).

And there will only be one left!

After the 1-1 draw in the first leg in Madrid, "ZZ" and "TT" tackle the second act of their tactical confrontation on Wednesday night at Stamford Bridge in London, whereas so far Zidane has never succeeded. to defeat Tuchel in five confrontations on the sidelines (4 draws, 1 loss).

For the Frenchman, reaching a fourth Champions League final in five seasons at the head of Real would be a resounding feat: "Zizou", already winner of the C1 in 2002 as a Real player, is also the first and only coach to have achieved the feat of lifting three consecutive "Big Ears Cups" between 2016 and 2018 at the head of the club merengue.

Is he capable of leading this new continental epic until the final in Istanbul, on May 29, to offer Real Madrid its "Decimocuarta", its 14th C1?

- With Ramos, without Varane -

The figures encourage us to trust him: in 15 knockout matches in the Champions League final phase, "ZZ" has only been eliminated once, in the round of 16 against Manchester City in the last edition (2-1, 2-1), disrupted by the Covid-19 pandemic.

The Marseille technician will however have to make some adjustments, especially in his defensive scheme.

On the way out, the left lane suffered for a long time in the face of the onslaught of the "Blues".

The three-center defense has retreated too far, leaving room for the London attackers (Timo Werner, Christian Pulisic and Mason Mount) to attack the cage of Thibaut Courtois.

The goal scored by Pulisic in the first leg is also the only one that Zidane's men have conceded since April 10 and the Clasico against Barcelona which they had won 2 to 1.

"We don't play a Champions League semi-final every day. My players are ready to play a great match. In these kinds of matches, you have to suffer on the pitch. That's what it was. passed to go, and tomorrow (Wednesday), it will be the same, "ZZ" assured Tuesday at a press conference.

To solidify his curtain, Wednesday, Zidane will be able to count on the returns of his captain Sergio Ramos, recovered from a left calf injury and Covid-19, and left side Ferland Mendy, who also treated a left calf injury .

On the other hand "Zizou" will have to compose without the central defender Raphaël Varane, released at half-time on Saturday against Osasuna (beaten 2-0) and victim of a right abductor injury.

- Tuchel, a second feat?

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For Tuchel, no infirmary problems: after blowing his executives off during the victory against Fulham (2-0) this weekend in the league, the German technician will be able to count on almost all of his workforce (except Mateo Kovacic, still affected in the adductors) to try to bring down Real de Zidane and grab a place in the final.

This would also be a small feat for the German technician.

After being defeated in the final of the previous edition on August 23, 2020 in Lisbon by the ogre Bayern Munich (1-0), Tuchel is at the gates of a new C1 final with Chelsea.

Having offered the Parisian club the first C1 final in its history did not protect Tuchel from dismissal at the end of December.

But his rebound was spectacular at Chelsea: he took over a team on the downward slope after the ouster of Frank Lampard, to make it an almost infallible fortress and a serious candidate for the Champions League.

On the way out, his men had succeeded in making Zidane and Real doubtful: the "Blues" had dominated for an hour, and had only yielded on an exceptional gesture from the French striker Karim Benzema, who became this evening- there the 4th top scorer in the history of the Champions League (71 goals).

But according to the German technician on Tuesday, his players will have to "forget the result of the first leg to start from 0-0" and "to win this match".

The advantage for Tuchel and Chelsea is that Real will have to uncover themselves to score this precious away goal if they want to qualify.

The perfect opportunity to put a stop to the love story between Zidane and the Champions League?

© 2021 AFP