The history between Zidane and James Rodriguez is full of misunderstandings, but one of the main ones surrounds the lack of confidence the Frenchman showed with the Colombian in the big games, especially in the Clasicos.
James spent four seasons at Real Madrid, so in LaLiga Santander he had eight opportunities to play against Barcelona in what is largely considered to be the best match in the world. Yet, in that time, he only featured in three of those games.
He was injured for two of them, but the rest he was fit and he started just twice. Unsurprisingly, both of those starts came with the two coaches prior to Zidane.
James started his first Clasico under Carlo Ancelotti on October 25, 2014. Real Madrid played very well, coming back from 1-0 down to win 3-1, with the Colombian grabbing an assist for the third goal as Karim Benzema made sure of the three points.
On that day, James played the full 90 minutes and was cheered by the crowd at the Estadio Santiago Bernabeu on several occasions. It was his first Clasico and he was part of a team that was playing great football.
That season, however, bad luck struck the playmaker as he had to watch the second Clasico of the season from his home, with Real Madrid losing that match 2-1.
Ancelotti left Real Madrid at the end of that season and Rafa Benitez arrived ahead of the 2015/16 campaign. On November 21, 2015, James played in his second Clasico as a starter, but things didn't go to plan on this occasion as Barcelona went on to win 4-0 at the Bernabeu. He was brought off in the 55th minute.
Shortly after, Benitez was dismissed and the Zidane era began. As soon as the Frenchman's reign began, it was clear that James was not going to play a key role. The Clasicos soon became a nightmare for the midfielder.
It took until the second Clasico of the season in the 2016/17 campaign for Zidane to give him some game time, bringing James on in the 82nd minute with Real Madrid 2-1 down. James scored in the 85th minute, but Leo Messi netted a late winner to secure a 3-2 win for Barcelona.
Following a two-year loan spell at Bayern Munich, James came back to Real Madrid and once again had to work under Zidane's orders. He was injured for the first Clasico of the season in 2019/20, and he was left out of the squad altogether.
So, under Zidane, James could have played in five games but only managed a total of eight minutes, in which he scored one goal.
With regard to his record against Barcelona whilst on the pitch, James has one win and two losses, with one goal and one assist. This time James will be watching the match from Liverpool, where he is recovering from an injury