Karanka: Real Madrid appointing Mourinho would have been as good as Zidane Football Spoke to MARCA

Aitor Karanka believes that Jose Mourinho would have been as good an appointment as Zinedine Zidane at Real Madrid.

The Spaniard, who was an assistant under Mourinho during the Portuguese's three-year spell in charge at Los Blancos, is convinced that the former Manchester United boss would have offered as much in the hot seat as Zidane.

"Either of the two options would have been great, but you have two different profiles," Karanka told MARCA.

"It seemed that [Ole Gunnar] Solskjaer had fixed everything done badly by Mourinho at Manchester United, but now they are out of the Champions League.

"In Jose's first season at the club, he won three trophies [the Community Shield, Carabao Cup and Europa League].

"Football moves so quickly that people forget the good things somebody does and only speak about the bad things.

"Jose will return to the level that we're used to see him manage at."

The footballing careers of Karanka and current Barcelona head coach Ernesto Valverde overlapped at several points.

"My father coached him and we were teammates," he explained.

"He is a little bit older than me, but my father coached him as a child and then, as professionals, we spent two to three years at Athletic [Club].

"After that I returned to Athletic and one year later, Ernesto became my coach.

"I'm glad that everything is going well for him at Barcelona."

Karanka worked with Cristiano Ronaldo at Real Madrid and he believes that the Portuguese star and Lionel Messi are on a different level to anyone else in football.

"It would be easy to say that Real Madrid miss Cristiano or that Cristiano misses Real Madrid, but they were hard decisions for both sides," he noted.

"Life goes on and so does Real Madrid.

"I do believe that Cristiano and Messi are a level above the rest that compete in world football."

The former Nottingham Forest boss has seen Zidane return to the Santiago Bernabeu and he is convinced that the Frenchman has brought a sense of tranquillity back to the club.

"The return of Zidane has brought calmness [back to Real Madrid]," said Karanka.

"After losing to Ajax and twice against Barcelona, there was a lot of noise [coming from inside and outside the club]."

"It has been a difficult season and I've experienced similar situations; it's tough to keep fighting when you have nothing to play for or win.

"Real Madrid is the only club capable of winning three consecutive Champions Leagues and be in crisis inside [the space of] seven months."

There has been a lot of speculation around the potential signing of Chelsea forward Eden Hazard for Real Madrid.

"Hazard has shown in every season under Mourinho and Antonio Conte that when his team needs a star, he is capable of stepping up and making the difference," added Karanka.

"If he ends up going to Real Madrid and working under Zidane, someone he has always spoken so highly of, that could lead to a new challenge for him."

Karanka added that he respects the decision of Fernando Hierro he made to guide the Spanish national team after Julen Lopetegui's dismissal on the eve of the 2018 World Cup.

"Fernando was brave in making that decision to lead the national team," he concluded.

"A lot of people would have said no but he went for it and it was unfortunate that he was criticised after."