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The criticism of Zidane following the Manchester City defeat

  /  autty

Rafael Varane apologised to his teammates following his poor display against Manchester City in the Champions League, but he wasn't the only culprit in Real Madrid's elimination from the tournament.

It is easy to blame the French defender following his very obvious mistakes against the English side, but Zinedine Zidane's inability to make a change from the bench when his team were trailing was also a big issue for Los Blancos.

At first, he only made a like-for-like change when he brought on Marco Asensio for Rodrygo.

The Frenchman then tried to change things with eight minutes remaining, which was too late in the game, by bringing on Luka Jovic, Lucas Vazquez and Fede Valverde.

The inclusion of Rodrygo in the starting line-up surprised many, but the Brazilian did set up Karim Benzema's equaliser.

The biggest surprise, however, was the absence of Vinicius, who is a player thought to be capable of making the difference in such a tie.

For many, the decision to leave the Brazilian out will be remembered as the key moment in Real Madrid's elimination from this season's competition.

Zidane did bring LaLiga Santander success to the club this season, but his side didn't come close to turning their Champions League tie around in Manchester.