Raul: I’m happy to see Zinedine Zidane do well

Real Madrid legend Raul says he is delighted to see former team mate Zinedine Zidane doing well since taking over as boss.

The Frenchman replaced Rafa Benitez in January with Madrid in poor form and with plenty of off-field problems too.

But the 1998 World Cup winner has turned the situation around with Los Blancos now lying just one point behind leaders Barcelona in the league with five games to go and into the final four of the Champions League where they face Manchester City.

Speaking about his former club, Raul told reporters he was happy with the progress made in a short space of time.

“With a chance to win the league, I’m really happy with Zidane and so are the players, as we’ve seen in recent games. You have to wait until La Liga finishes. Madrid have cut the gap, as have Atlético because a few games ago it looked very difficult. Everything will be closer if they slip up. The best thing is that there are three teams fighting for La Liga; all have a big chance,” he stated.

Asked about the Champions League and a potential all-Madrid final again, Raul said he’d like to see a repeat of that but warned both teams they face tough tests.

He commented: “The UCL final in Lisbon could be repeated & that would be better for Spanish football. That’s what I want, though it won’t be easy. The semi-finalists have great squads and great players. I wasn’t surprised by Barça getting knocked out.”