Real Madrid’s Zinedine Zidane is of the belief Cristiano Ronaldo is the world’s best player and admits he never expected to go into coaching.

Zidane moved to the Real Madrid Castilla bench after a year as Carlo Ancelotti’s assistant, then took over from Rafa Benitez with the senior side in January.

Now it is the Frenchman dealing with questions that will be familiar to both his predecessors - including perhaps the defining debate of modern football.

Zidane was asked the question posed to countless others - Ronaldo or Lionel Messi?

“Cristiano is the best,” Zidane replied.

“There’s a lot that can be said about him but in his heart he’s a good person.

“Messi is his rival and the rivalry is good for football. It’s what people want to see.”

The World Cup winner acknowledged that he never planned to go into management after retiring as a player, and his experiences so far have helped him to understand some of his former bosses.

“I never thought that one day I would be a coach. When you finish playing, you just think about your family,” AS quotes the Frenchman as telling Mexican publication Record.

“I liked being on the pitch, because that’s what I did. I didn’t know anything else. I do want to go and play but I can’t. The feeling on the bench is different.

“I’m now under a different pressure than I felt on the pitch and I could work things out. Now the players decide.

“I do understand my former coaches more now, yes. Now it’s me who is tense. The coach is always to blame for the defeat. But you assume responsibility, the good and the bad.

“The main thing is to convey the message to my players. I ask two or three things of them because they are very professional.

“I have a sensational group and I’m happy with them and what they’re doing. We’re prepared to win every game. That’s Madrid’s goal.

“We’re working well physically and with the quality we have, I’m not worried.”

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