Zidane will hope to break the trend of his five

Clasico debuts on the Real Madrid bench have not gone too well for new coaches in recent years. No one has won their first meeting with Barcelona since 2007 and some have even been handed the most humiliating defeats of their careers.

Jose Mourinho lost 5-0 at the Camp Nou in 2010 and Rafa Benitez was beaten 4-0 last year at the Bernabeu. Bernd Schuster was the last Madrid coach to win his first Clasico in December 2007.

The first to be hit by the subsequent Clasico curse was Juande Ramos the following year when he saw his side beaten 2-0 at the Camp Nou. Manuel Pellegrini lost his first Clasico 1-0 away from home in November 2009 and after Mourinho's 5-0 reverse the next to lose his first meeting with Barca was Carlo Ancelotti who lost 2-1 in 2013. His successor Benitez had no more joy last November.

Zinedine Zidane will make his managerial El Clasico debut when Real Madrid travel to Barcelona on Saturday

Zidane will hope to break Real's El Clasico managerial debut curse in this match, which dates back to 2007

No Real manager on his El Clasico debut has beaten Barcelona since Bernd Schuster did in December 2007

Juande Ramos (left) lost his first El Clasico 2-0 in 2008, while his successor Manuel Pellegrini was beaten 1-0

Jose Mourinho (left) and Carlo Ancelotti both lost their debut Clasico matches in 2010 and 2013 respectively

Rafa Bentiez's sole Clasico match ended in a 4-0 thrashing by Barcelona in November earlier this season

Zinedine Zidane will be hoping to do better than his five predecessors on Saturday when he takes charge of his first meeting with Barcelona and although he has the disadvantage of being far less experienced as a coach than the managers who have come before him, he does have the advantage of knowing all about the biggest club fixture in European Football from a player's perspective.

His first meeting with Barcelona as a Real Madrid player came in April 2001 at the Bernabeu and he came out on the winning side with Fernando Morientes and Luis Figo getting the goals in a 2-0 victory. He only lost once in five visits to the Nou Camp. And he came face-to-face with Luis Enrique on five occasions – literally in the 2002-03 season when he went for the then Barcelona captain and had to be held back by two Barca players.

REAL MADRID'S LAST FIVE MANAGERS EL CLASICO DEBUTS Juande Ramos Lost 2-0 at Barcelona on December 13, 2008 Manuel Pellegrini Lost 1-0 at Barcelona on November 29, 2009 Jose Mourinho Lost 5-0 at Barcelona on November 29, 2010 Carlo Ancelotti Lost 2-1 at Barcelona on October 26, 2013 Rafa Benitez Lost 4-0 vs Barcelona on November 21, 2015 Advertisement

Anyone who thinks the Barca-Madrid fixtures only became pitched battles when Mourinho moved to Spain should take a look at the 14-man melee that was sparked by Zidane’s flailing hand in the face of Carles Puyol and Enrique’s subsequent charge at the Frenchman.

On Saturday the two men will be in their technical areas as others go into battle on their behalf. Despite Gareth Bale suggesting Real would be back in the title race if they win the game most in Madrid believe the league is gone. But a win would do wonders for confidence and convince them that they can win the Champions League this season – Zidane will be ramming that point home in the away dressing room before kick-off. This match is about setting up the season’s run-in when the two may well meet again in the European Cup semi-finals or final.

Zidane and Luis Enrique get up close and personal during the Clasico clash of April 2003

Zidane was angered by Enrique's suggestion that he elbowed Barcelona's Carles Puyol during the match

The then-Real Madrid star (left) finds himself held back by the throat by Thiago Motta as tempers flare

Zidane (left) loses his temper and lashes out at Enrique, though he escaped with just a booking

Zidane’s record so far shows just one loss and two draws in 11 games with 44 goals scored and only 10 conceded. Behind the numbers hide the story is of a team that shows all the same defects as under Benitez, especially on the road.

They were unable to beat lowly Betis. They couldn’t take three points from modest Malaga and only an 89th minute goal from Casemiro saved them from another two points dropped against Las Palmas. And in his most important fixture to date Zidane looked helpless on the touchline as his flat team were beaten 1-0 by Atletico Madrid.

Former Real Madrid president Ramon Calderon referred to him as a third division coach this week. That was where he was plying his trade with the Madrid B-team until he replaced Benitez and there are still many who think he cannot make the step up.

There is another theory that he is actually far-better suited to this type of big game than the graft of trying to mould a group of raw teenage players into a winning team in the lower reaches of the league ladder.

Antoine Griezmann celebrates after scoring Atletico Madrid's winner against Real at the Bernabeu in February

Zidane has been described as a third division coach by former Real Madrid president Ramon Calderon

If Zidane lacks the coaching ability of some of his peers that will matter less in a game like this when it counts for far more that he knows all about dealing with the pressures of the fixture and can stand up before the game and tell his players – I have lived through this. This is how I coped. Go out and do as I did and win the game.

Most don't recover from their first Clasico loss. Juande Ramos got a second bite at the Barca cherry but lost 6-2 at home and was sacked at the end of the season. Benitez was given his marching orders after the first disastrous meeting with the old enemy and will not take charge of this second league meeting of the season.

His replacement Zidane must make his own destiny now. Unlike Benitez and even Mourinho in his very first game in the visitors dug-out at the Camp Nou, he will be able to pick exactly the team he wants. That means there will be a defensive midfielder, Casemiro, to give balance to a three man midfield and he will leave out big money players such as Isco and James Rodriguez bought for fixtures like this one.

He will do it his way on Saturday night and how it goes will set the tone for the rest of his time in charge of Real Madrid.

Brazilian midfielder Casemiro (left) is expected to start for Real - providing a defensive shield for the visitors