Zidane has given Real Madrid two years of smiles Real Madrid - Opinion Jesus Sanchez looks back on the coach's reign

Real Madrid have lived through the French revolution of the 21st century, on January 4 2016 Florentino Perez presented Zinedine Zidane as the club's new coach at the Estadio Santiago Bernabeu.

Zidane was a talisman from a bygone era of success, that golden age of Real Madrid had since been shattered and the Frenchman was seen as the solution.

From this moment on Los Blancos has entered yet another golden period, they have lifted almost every single trophy on offer, some even twice.

With the French coach at the helm, the club have broken all records, something few could have envisaged given the fact they had exhausted all managerial options.

Since 2003 there had been 10 different coaches in charge at the Estadio Santiago Bernabeu, incidentally the year in which Lionel Messi made his debut with Barcelona.

Through tranquillity, Zidane brought back a rhythm to Madrid, the aesthetically pleasing football returned and the team won eight titles since his arrival, which roughly averages at a title every 14 matches.

He isn't renowned for great tactical philosophies, however his man-management skills have the power to fill footballers with confidence, Zidane was such a special player himself that he knows exactly what is required to motivate individuals.

This has allowed him to connect with players from day one; he has taken on a leadership role and has understood the needs of everyone in his squad.

Authoritarian messages have been cast aside, Zidane has found the right words to motivate and his reputation as a player brought him the respect needed to lead.

It has been the little things which have made the difference, taking part in rondo training drills, not giving anything away in press conferences, keeping a cool head under pressure and always defending his players in public, Zidane has cultivated an atmosphere where he doesn't feed any outside sources.

When required, he is discreet in his methods; he has as much class in coaching as he did when controlling the ball as a player.

After becoming the first to win the Champions League twice in successive years, Zidane generated a new profile for Real Madrid; all of a sudden they were at the pinnacle of world football once again.

The style of football and the class with which things were being done off the pitch generated empathy the world over, Los Blancos found friends that they hadn't had for years.

The club had existed for so long with a dark reputation, Zidane is the antithesis of Jose Mourinho and a worthy heir to the calm Carlo Ancelotti.

It would have been easy for people to point towards his lack of experience and coaching credentials when he was appointed, however all these prejudices have been thrown into obscurity as a result of the success he has enjoyed, even if the most recent memory is a 3-0 defeat to Barcelona.

The 2017/18 season has seen the team struggle in LaLiga, making the aim of retaining their title seemingly impossible.

With that being said, defeat and Zidane are two words which simply don't go together, in 116 matches as coach he has lost just 11 times.

In finals his record is even stronger with seven victories coming in seven different matches, although he faces an incredibly difficult challenge in the form of Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League last-16.

January 2016 saw Los Blancos as a team that had been ground down by poor results and a dismal playing style; Zidane quickly had them in the palm of his hand, settling things down.

What followed was a Champions League final victory against Atletico Madrid on penalties, it's important to value the role played by luck in such a run.

In his first full season in charge the former Juventus midfielder embarked on a policy of constant rotation, he had the requisite quality of players to succeed and team selections regularly changed from match to match whilst results remained consistent.

His generosity in the division of minutes was phenomenal, yet still Real Madrid continued to win in LaLiga on Sundays as well as in the Champions League on Wednesdays.

With the start of 2018, Los Blancos has just celebrated the most successful year in club history, a historic five titles were won and Cristiano Ronaldo won his fifth Ballon d'Or.

Many wondered how Zidane would work with the Portuguese star when he arrived, yet the relationship has been good; the Frenchman knows how to feed egos for the good of the group.

Before the Champions League final in Cardiff, Zidane said that if he had been in the same team as the Portuguese striker, then it would have been Ronaldo who would have been the star; this comment defines Zidane's coaching methods that have come to define an era of unprecedented success in the Spanish capital. Over two years the club has been given millions of reasons to smile.