Which Real Madrid Players Combine to Make Zinedine Zidane's Best Attributes?

Zinedine Zidane reached legendary status as a player with Juventus and Real Madrid, as well as his national team, France. He is attempting to do the same as the manager of the Spanish side, with two trophies already won in less than a year in charge—including the big one, the UEFA Champions League.

Wearing the No. 5 on his shirt, Zidane helped to win both La Liga and the Champions League for Real. He lifted the Ballon d'Or during in his playing career and is generally regarded as one of the best players in world football history.

There are few who ever reach that level, much less possess the skill set Zidane, an attacking and creative midfielder, could boast—but who from the Real Madrid squad that Zizou manages could combine to offer the skills on the pitch he once displayed?

First Touch

Zidane had many skills, but perhaps his single best attribute was his innate ability to instantly bring the ball under his command upon receiving it and be able to turn away from danger or into space as he wished. There was no pass too firm, too high or too wayward he would not be able to trap and immediately set off with—his first touch was immaculate and set the platform for what followed.

PHILIPPE DESMAZES/Getty Images

Real Madrid are blessed with a number of technically gifted players, but perhaps the best first touch of them all belongs to Isco.

What he does after that, with regard to consistency and decision-making, cannot be in any way compared to Zidane's greatness, but Isco undoubtedly possesses a spellbinding first touch that helps buy him an extra fraction of a second before being challenged.

PIERRE-PHILIPPE MARCOU/Getty Images

The ability to kill a pass while surrounded by opponents, understand the movement of the ball, himself and the opposition all at once and be able to position himself in an instant to be in control is one of Isco's foremost attributes, just as it was Zidane's.

Dribbling

It hardly seems the word to describe what Zidane did in possession, but dribbling is the descriptive term of choice for the sport. The French World Cup winner would more glide, drift, skim across the surface of the pitch. Rarely did he surge or sprint past defenders, yet taking the ball off Zidane when he was on the move was an art in itself for a period.

DAMIEN MEYER/Getty Images

A change of direction and a movement of the heels, and Zidane was gone, slipping through a gap between where there hadn't appeared to be one. The ball always seemed glued to the edges of his boots.

Real Madrid have plenty of dribblers in their ranks: the furious, direct manner of Gareth Bale, the changing direction, quick-footed bursts from Marcelo and the single-minded pace to the byline of Lucas Vazquez among them, but none replicate Zidane's version of the skill. Instead, it is Luka Modric who is closest, and even he isn't a complete fit.

ODD ANDERSEN/Getty Images

The Croatian has that ability to sidestep a challenge and suddenly be away in the clear, ready to make his next move in the attack but perfectly at ease in possession with defenders bearing down on him. Zidane most certainly didn't possess pace, yet he still got away from those who dared to try and tackle him—and Modric, a little quicker but still more reliant on agility and aggression, is of the same mould.

Passing

Again, mere passing doesn't encompass the all-around wizardry of the world's finest, so consider all the creative elements of a playmaker in this section: the ability to go short or long, fire an accurate first-time pass between the lines, go long over a defence or switch play before the opposition can react. That, plus the vision to see those possibilities before anyone else and the technique to make it work, time and time again.

CHRISTOPHE SIMON/Getty Images

That was Zidane, as good as any other scheming midfielder before or since. His mimic in this regard is Toni Kroos.

The German plays deeper than Zidane used to, but he is inherently the same in his ability to dictate the flow and tempo of a game, to set his team on the front foot and to make a mockery of teams' defensive setups with incision, precision and metronomic regularity.

Giuseppe Bellini/Getty Images

Not always used in his best role, Kroos would be a central pillar of any other side with his ability to fashion opening after opening. Zidane was afforded the status his achievements merited and played further forward—though not always from a central starting position—and thus was a final-third impact player, but their ability to exploit space and movement is exceedingly alike.

Shooting

Zidane was never a great goalscorer, often hitting single figures for a season and 31 for France in 108 caps. But important goals he managed when it mattered most for his team: three goals across two World Cup finals, one in a Champions League final and many more in special league fixtures.

DAMIEN MEYER/Getty Images

While perfectly at ease using either foot, something of a typical Zidane goal would be a left-footed finish, hammered from the edge of the box, high past the goalkeeper and just inside the post.

In that regard, there are two Real Madrid players who fit the bill: Bale and James Rodriguez. Add in Zidane's other particular skills in finishing—a composure in one-on-one situations and a phenomenal, underrated heading ability—and Bale is the best match.

Shaun Botterill/Getty Images

Already noted for his heading and having scored a couple of extremely important aerial goals for Real, Bale has improved his coolness and regularity of scoring over the past few seasons and even has another Zidane trait: He's not bad from set pieces!

Aura

Zlatan Ibrahimovic isn't a man to readily bestow compliments on players other than himself, so when he told beIN Sports (via the Daily Post) "when Zidane stepped onto the pitch, the 10 other guys just got suddenly better," there's no doubt an element of understatement about the matter.

DAMIEN MEYER/Getty Images

Zidane did exactly that. He made others play better, he made the opposition fear his team because he was in it and he brought his own A game time after time. The perception of a player can be as useful as his ability and part of the reason so many greats are still feared even after their powers are clearly on the wane.

That kind of personality, aura and motivation for the rest of the team was given out by Zidane in his day, and there can be only one at Real Madrid who offers the same: Cristiano Ronaldo.

MIGUEL RIOPA/Getty Images

The Portuguese forward has won the Ballon d'Or more times than Zidane did, is the club's record goalscorer, has won multiple trophies and is still the centrepiece of the attack. He'll finish his career as one of Madrid's greatest legends, just like Zidane, and there isn't much to choose between them for many in terms of being among the world's finest players ever.

That sort of genius is a special commodity in a team, and even if Ronaldo and Zidane are incredibly different stylistically, they both share that attribute that makes others look to them to find results and glory—and they both do it for the same side, with one as player and the other as manager. 

Follow @karlmatchett