Zidane on Juventus, Del Piero and joining Real Madrid: ‘Now or never’

Zinedine Zidane has spoken about his career with Juventus, his time playing with the legendary Alessandro Del Piero, and the night with Florentino Perez that led to his joining Real Madrid in the summer of 2001. 

The legendary former midfielder was one of the guest speakers at the Festival dello Sport in Trento over the weekend, along with the likes of Luciano Spalletti, Roberto Mancini and Zlatan Ibrahimovic, among countless others. 

Zidane said that he came to understand the true importance of winning after joining Juventus from Bordeaux in 1996. 

“It was beautiful. When I came from France, the football was great, but not as great as it was at Juve. I came to understand what winning meant there, the fact that we had to do it all the time, even away from home. In France, you could get away with losing away. At Juve, never,” he said. 

The 1998 World Cup winner remembers with particular fondness the personal relationship he enjoyed with former Juventus chief Gianni Agnelli. 

“The thing that impressed me is that when I had a good game, we’d get back at four in the morning. He’d call me at six, would speak to me in French and would compliment me on my performance. These are the sorts of things that made him a gentleman.” 

Among the best players that Zidane played with during his five years with Juventus was club icon Del Piero.