La charla de Zidane en el descanso previa a la exhibición vs Juve en la Duodécima pic.twitter.com/JdnXaga0Cc — Rafa Peinado (@peinado90) January 31, 2018

The following translation is very rough, due to the fact that the audio quality is poor and because I found Zidane’s accent and slightly broken Spanish difficult to understand at certain points. Thus, I apologize in advance for any slight mistakes that I may have made, but the gist of what Zidane is communicating is accurate.

Before the half-time talk (not shown in video), Zidane says:

“Recover well. Afterwards, we talk.”

[All the key players have their say]

[7 minutes later, Zidane returns to deliver his speech]

“Just two things. It’s a final. We know that it’s also a difficult match for them. The most important thing, defensively, is that we have to be more aggressive. But not in the sense that you get a card. It is is more important for us to arrive on time. We need to be closer to each other. One of the things is to be closer... and more aggressive. We have to be more aggressive. Ok? When we don’t have the ball.

Next, they (Juventus) play with a 4-4-2. With Alves very high and Mandzukic very high. What we have to do is make them retreat. Isco, when they have the ball, defend to the left. When we have the ball, go a little more in-between the lines. But also, think... when we have the ball, as we have said, we need patience. We also have to play faster to the outside. And Marcelo and Dani, higher (you need to play higher). When we have the ball, we have to make them defend there (makes a motion that indicates he wants Juventus defending deeper on the wings), with Dani and Marcelo, ok?

Next, the second line (refers to Modric and Isco)... Luka and Isco, when we play touch-to-touch, you should connect and complete (your passes) and you should try to play cut-backs, like we practiced this week. Because, touch-to-touch (slaps fist to hand)... like how we played... the goal was this (we scored by playing like this). We played outside, then to the middle, and then we scored. The only thing we have to put... is a little more amplitude (width), ok? And rhythm. But, don’t play a lot inside. What we have to do is play from side to side. From side to side. Agree?

Next, defensively, duels. Put a little more of your leg in (get stuck-in a little bit), no more. Continue, work, because we have to suffer, it is a final. We suffer, but always thinking that another goal will come (for Madrid). Agree? Ok!”

[Zidane and the players clap and get ready to get back on the pitch]

It’s extremely interesting to watch Zidane’s full half-time talk, because that’s one of the few times we get to hear what his tactics and in-game philosophies are. In the beginning, he all but says that Madrid needed to press more. He wants Madrid to be more compact and for everyone to work in unison (arrive on time). As we saw in the second half, Real’s counterpressing (which wasn’t very present in the first half) proved to be a crucial reason for Madrid’s victory, and we can now confirm that this was a conscious tactical shift by Zidane.

Next, he notes that he thinks Juventus’ tactical shape is a 4-4-2, which is a bit odd, since it was really a 4-2-3-1. But given that Dybala possessed a free role on the day, the difference between the two observations seems like pure semantics. Regardless, he seems to comprehend the important things, as he notes the high movement of Alves and astutely instructs Marcelo and Carvajal to push higher to pin Juventus’ wingers back. More interestingly, he tells Isco to move in-between the lines more, which was another important half-time change that proved to be a contributing factor in Madrid’s victory.

(Go to 0:27)

After that, he emphasizes the need for width, crosses, and cut-backs (it was cool to confirm that Madrid did indeed practice the cut-back strategy in direct preparation for this game), while saying that he doesn’t want Madrid to play in the center (so, there’s your reason for why Real seem to play through the flanks in an almost dogmatic fashion). He then goes on to instruct his men to play from side to side quickly, which again, was something that we saw manifest in the second half.

Additionally, it’s intriguing to know that he gave his players seven minutes by themselves before initiating his half-time talk, thereby allowing the squad leaders to have their moment.

All-in-all, it was simply fantastic to be able to listen to such a tactically charged moment. It has confirmed what we thought Zidane did on the night and has given us rare insight into the way he communicates his message to his players.

Special thanks to @GreedMB for his help in translating a couple of phrases.

The footage is from the official Real Madrid film “In the Heart of the Duodécima.”