Florentino Perez praises 'best coach in the world' Zinedine Zidane on Real Madrid return

Zidane returned to the club for his second stint as manager, despite resigning from the role after winning a third consecutive Champions League title in May 2018.

The 46-year-old was replaced by ex-Spain national team coach Julen Lopetegui who only lasted in the role until October before being sacked. Santiago Solari was promoted from the B team to manage the senior side, but Los Blancos relieved him of his duties on Monday evening before bringing Zidane back on a three-year contract.

Real Madrid hosted a press conference to confirm the news on Monday night at the Bernabeu, with president Perez joining the newly-appointed Frenchman.

The club's president heaped plenty of praise onto Zidane, who won nine trophies in his first stint at the club as manager.

Zidane revealed that Perez was an important reason as to why he returned to the club, despite resigning less than a year ago. The former midfielder stated his reason behind the move was "because the president called me, and I love the president and the club very much".

"The first thing that entered my head when I got the phone call asking me to come back? I'll come back - and here I am"

“The feelings are good, I am happy to be back. I didn’t go too far, as I live here, but I am happy to work with this great club and this squad above all.”

"I know this is a special day for everyone. I'm very happy to return here and that's the most important thing. I will be starting work tomorrow to put this club back where it deserves to be".

"Things are going to change - they need to. But that's not a priority right now. We have 11 games left, and the idea is to finish the season well".

Zidane also refused to use Cristiano Ronaldo's departure as an excuse for Real Madrid's form and ruled out any dream of a surprise return for the Portuguese forward stating, "it's not about that, it's about the 11 games that remain this season. We all know the history Cristiano made at this club, no one will ever change that. We have 11 games to play, starting on Saturday".

Real Madrid host Celta Vigo on Saturday afternoon for the first match of Zidane's second stint as head coach.