Zidane's miraculous turnaround in less than three months Real Madrid Was on the brink of the sack in October

Zinedine Zidane has the chance to lift his first trophy since returning as Real Madrid head coach when Los Blancos face Atletico Madrid in Sunday's Supercopa de Espana final, with everything looking rosy from a Real Madrid perspective at present.

However, less than three months ago, a crisis was ensuing at the Estadio Santiago Bernabeu. Zidane travelled to Istanbul on October 22 in the knowledge that he could be sacked if Real Madrid lost to Galatasaray, but, with the help of his players, the Frenchman has managed to turn the situation around.

The defeat away at Real Mallorca (their worst performance in a long, long time) and the worrying start to their Champions League campaign (a humiliating defeat against an undermanned Paris Saint-Germain was followed by a draw at home to Club Brugge) led to plenty of rumours about Zidane's future.

Thus, the match against Galatasaray became a final for the 47-year-old, yet he was able to guide his team to a 1-0 victory as Los Merengues began a run which has seen them go on an unbeaten run that is approaching three months, with their last defeat coming at Mallorca on October 19.

Now, Zidane is two days away from lifting his tenth trophy as Real Madrid head coach. From Istanbul to Jeddah, via tough grounds like Mestalla and the Camp Nou, the improvement of Los Blancos in recent months has been exceptional.

He faced the situation head on

The first person to accept that things were not up to standard was Zidane. He understands the demands of Real Madrid like few others and he realised that another defeat would be the end for him.

On the day of the match against Galatasaray, Zidane included Fede Valverde and Rodrygo Goes in his starting line-up, two bold decisions that ended up being rewarded as the youngsters - and the rest of the team - responded in the best way possible after the Mallorca travesty.

Since that match, though, everything has changed. The improvement has been evident and there have been some tough tests along the way, too.

Real Madrid were very good at home to Paris Saint-Germain, going 2-0 ahead before drawing 2-2, while they also showed that they are a different team to the one that started the season in the matches against Barcelona at the Camp Nou and then Valencia at Mestalla and Los Che again in the Supercopa semi-final on Wednesday.

It is clear that Los Blancos are now able to withstand the opposition's attacking threat, defending much better as a unit, and this may seem somewhat simple but it is something that had been absent from their play for the last year and a half.

Zidane has continued to prioritise LaLiga Santander, making clear how important it is to become league champions, and that has been evident in the players' performances, with only a lack of goals being their downfall in recent months.

Now, two and a half months after Zidane's worst moment in charge of Real Madrid, the Frenchman can lift his tenth trophy as head coach if his team beat Atletico Madrid on Sunday.

As he has acknowledged on other occasions, it is the least important trophy on offer but it is a trophy nonetheless, and one which adds further weight to Zidane's standing as one of the best coaches in the world.

"Every day I like to do new things," Zidane said after the win against Valencia, where he deployed a five-man midfield to devastating effect in the absence of the likes of Karim Benzema, Eden Hazard and Gareth Bale.

There have been always doubts about Zidane, even in his first spell where he led Real Madrid to three successive Champions League trophies, but what he has been done in the last couple of months is turn Los Blancos around and close the mouths of his critics in the process.