Zinedine Zidane says he is stepping down as Real Madrid boss, just five days after leading them to a third straight Champions League triumph.
Zidane, 45, told a news conference at the Bernabeu Stadium he had “taken the decision not to continue next year”.
Real Madrid president Florentino Perez was present alongside Zidane, who took charge in January 2016.
He leaves having guided the Spanish club to three successive Champions League titles and one La Liga success.
“I love this club,” he added.
“What I think is that this team needs to continue winning but I think it needs a change, a different voice, another methodology. And that’s why I took this decision.”
Zidane, 45, took over after Rafael Benitez was sacked and was in charge for 149 games. He steered Real to 104 wins and 29 draws, had 69.8% win rate, and won nine trophies.
He said in February that he would walk away if he felt “there is nothing more to give”.
However, the timing of his announcement still came as a shock just days after Real beat Liverpool 3-1 in the Champions League final.
“This is a club that has won 13 European Cups, so I’m happy to be part of this history,” he said after victory in Kiev.
“We are going to think about what we achieved, enjoy the moment first. This is the most important thing now.”
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Credit: BBC
