Zinedine Zidane says Real Madrid squad stopped to watch 'mind-blowing' player train

Former Real Madrid midfielder and head coach Zinedine Zidane has revealed that he and his former team-mates would “stop playing” to watch a “mind-blowing” player train during their time with Los Blancos.

Zidane was one of the original Galacticos who arrived at Real Madrid during the early 2000s before going on to cement his name in Los Blancos folklore by scoring the winning goal in the 2001–02 Champions League final against Bayer Leverkusen.

The Frenchman later enjoyed two stints as head coach of the La Liga club, during which he guided them to three successive European triumphs between 2015 and 2018.

And despite appearing to be a calm and composed character who is fazed by very little, even ‘Zizou’ has admitted that he and his fellow Real Madrid stars would stop playing just to watch former Brazil forward and two-time Ballon d’Or winner Ronaldo Nazario train.

Zidane shared a dressing room with the 2002 World Cup winner between 2002 and 2006, with Ronaldo arguably past his peak when he signed for Real Madrid from Inter, despite registering 104 goals in just 177 appearances for the Spanish giants.

Ronaldo (far left) and Zinedine Zidane (far right) played together at Real Madrid (Credit:Getty)

In an exclusive interview with French outlet L’Equipe, Zidane described how Ronaldo played as “beautiful” and “mind-blowing” before naming four other “truly great” players he previously coached at Los Blancos.

“He still is unique,” Zidane explained.

“I was lucky enough to play with him for a long time, next to me at Real Madrid. He really was ‘The’ phenomenon. Everything about him — plus he was so kind and funny. You wanted to do anything to be his friend. But you should have seen him in training. Mind-blowing. Some guys would stop playing to watch him. It was just as beautiful as during a match.

“It’s also in training that you see the truly great players. I had the same feeling when I was coach at Real Madrid. I didn’t say anything. I watched Luka Modric, Toni Kroos, Cristiano Ronaldo or Karim Benzema train. There was nothing to say except watch; they were all so talented and professional. They never lost possession.

“That’s what motivated me as a coach too — to have that very, very high level of talent. I felt that spark again in the beautiful game we played, just like when I was a player. I played with extraordinary players. I coached extraordinary players. That’s what makes you a better player too.”

Despite enjoying two successful spells as Real boss, the Frenchman has been without a managerial role since exiting the club in 2021.

However, he is heavily linked with replacing France national team head coach Didier Deschamps following the 2026 FIFA World Cup, with Zidane previously suggesting that he would like “to be the head coach of France one day”.