Legend of French football -Ballon d'Or 98 a few months after having led the Blues to the very first World Cup in their history -, Zinedine Zidane has a slightly less impressive record in club. Headliner of Real Madrid galactics in the early 2000s, “Zizou” won the 2002 Champions League by scoring a magnificent goal in the final against Leverkusen. But he only won the liga in six seasons once among the Merengues and no King's cup.
The Marseille native also failed during three other European Cup finals, that of the 1996 UEFA Cup with the Girondins de Bordeaux (against Bayern) and in the C1 final twice with Juventus, in 1997 against Borussia Dortmund and in 1998 against the Real.
Zidane is not one of the French players who played the most Champions League matches, but he is the sixth French player to have played the most European Cup games, with 120 appearances on the continental scene. It is certainly a bit far from the 157 European matches of Karim Benzema or the 140 of Thierry Henry.
Zidane in the viewfinder of Griezmann
In this ranking of matches in the European Cup, Zidane has a little ahead of Robert Pirès, Franck Ribéry and Antoine Griezmann. “Grizi” will have the opportunity to double Zidane and enter the Top 5. The 2018 world champion, yet expected in MLS, finally extended with the Ateltico until 2027. With his 116 European Cup matches on the counter, Griezmann therefore has the opportunity to quickly double Zidane.
By playing a dozen LDC matches next season (there are eight days in the first round now), the protégé of Diego Simeone can also exceed Patrice Evra (124 matches) to integrate this tricolor top 5. Then, in 2026-2027, he will have in the viewfinder Claude Makelele and Mathieu Valbuena, who share 3rd place behind “KB9” and “Titi” Henry with 132 games on the European scene.
