Zinedine Zidane has the opportunity this Thursday to fulfil the objective that he laid out for his Real Madrid team when he returned as coach on March 12, 2019.
The French coach outlined his ambitions straight away last year.
"Next season our priority will be to win the league," he said.
"I can't say that we'll definitely win it, but we'll compete right until the end."
He had the same message for everyone he spoke to, whether it was the press, people at the club or the players.
Against Villareal, Zidane and his players have the opportunity to win the league title, which is something that has been synonymous with the club throughout its history.
He has already achieved his first goal, which was to make sure that Real Madrid end their habit of dropping out of the title race too early.
The club were successful under Zidane two years ago, winning the Champions League against Liverpool in Kiev, but Zidane saw it as somewhat of a failure as the club finished the league campaign in third place and some 17 points adrift of Barcelona.
It's for this reason that his complete focus has been on winning the league title this season.
A major reason why Real Madrid have maintained their title challenge has been how solid they've been this season.
Zidane put importance on not having too much rotation and his team maybe lost some flair, but they've been more consistent and more of a reliable unit, one capable of maintaining defensive discipline.
In the two LaLiga seasons that Zidane has completed, Los Blancos conceded 41 and 44 goals, but with two matches left this year his squad have only conceded 21 at the moment, with 19 clean sheets.
Zidane knows exactly what the Champions League means to this club, but he also knows that winning the league helps to build strong teams and this has been his message throughout, especially since lockdown.
Even though Real Madrid still have some hope in the Champions League, Zidane's focus over the past month and a half has only been on the domestic competition.
It's been Zidane's priority since the start of his second term and, against Villarreal, he has the chance to finally achieve his main goal.
SH3012
253
After Winning La Liga,Our Next Objective Is To Win UCL Without Ronaldo To Shut Down Haters👏😎
ronnie_luv
134
they say V.A.R. helped us... maybe they were right . . . . . Vinicius, Asensio, Rodrygo are our Young Frontline and they have so much more to prove 😉
Kefaya
97
I have always heard of the love story of Romeo & Juliet but I am now experiencing the love story between Zidane & Trophies
ronnie_luv
55
first, we have to end Barcelona's impressive dominance in Laliga in past decade. Our 3 consecutive UCLs has already shown we can do it without Ronaldo, but it's hard, and it will take time. Maybe we don't win this UCL, and i don't think we will, but This season itself has been so much surprising for Opponents to see us rising once again. Let's first win the Laliga tonight, Hala madrid ❤️ 🔥
Chidi_Bang_Bang
48
Facts: Real Madrid has done the impossible without Ronaldo a world best which I agree 100% they do miss him even if some do not want to admit this. Another Fact: Neymar left Barça and they cannot fill his shoe with a better replacement. What will happen if Messi leaves? I’m not a fan of Real because of Ramos and not a fan of Barça because of Saurez for obvious reasons I don’t like players who play dirty but I’m honestly worried for Barça. If I was a Barça fan I would be too as Messi is not getting younger
shanz007
43
nearly 6hrs to titles 🤩🤩#halamadrid
zizkey006
39
Zizou next season would go for triple
cby10
33