MADRID, May 27 (Xinhua) -- Zinedine Zidane is on the verge of leaving his post as Real Madrid coach for the second time and has already informed the club of his decision to step down, according to reports in all of the Spanish sporting newspapers on Thursday morning.
Zidane's decision had been the subject of press speculation for several weeks and comes after a disappointing season which has seen the club finish without any titles for the first time in 11 years, after ending the domestic campaign second in La Liga, losing the Champions League semi-final to Chelsea and seeing his side knocked out of the Copa del Rey by third tier Alcoyano.
Madrid based newspaper, Diario AS explains that Zidane told both his players and the club of his decision on Wednesday and that the decision is likely to be made official in the coming hours.
The Frenchman is also thought to be unhappy that club President, Florentino Perez did nothing to publicly support him earlier in the year when he was being criticized following the Copa del Rey exit and Real Madrid's Spanish Supercup defeat to Athletic Club Bilbao.
This is the second time that Zidane has left Real Madrid before the end of his contract: He stepped down as coach in the summer of 2018 days after winning the Champions League, only to make a surprise return in March 2019 after Santi Solari was sacked after a difficult time in charge.
He led Real Madrid to the La Liga title in the covid-affected 2019-20 season, but found life harder this season as his squad suffered a constant stream of injuries and cases of Covid-19 and he too was affected by the virus at the end of January and was unable to coach for a fortnight while he recovered.
Italian coach Massimiliano Allegri is the favorite to replace Zidane, with B-team coach, Raul Gonzalez another possible candidate. Enditem