Tuesday 13 December 2016 06:27, UK
Zinedine Zidane has not been "lucky" during his successful reign at Real Madrid, according to Terry Gibson.
The Frenchman, who replaced Rafa Benitez last season and won the Champions League in May, has lost only two of his 50 games in charge and is on a 35-game unbeaten run with the Spanish giants.
Though his critics have labelled Zidane "lucky" after a last-gasp win over Deportivo on Saturday, Gibson told the La Liga Weekly Podcast that there hasn't been a large element of fortune or misfortune to his run.
"There haven't been too many incidents where Real Madrid have been unlucky, but Ramos scoring late goals isn't luck," Gibson said.
"He's lost two games in 50, so it's not exactly a bad start for a manager in his first job, especially after taking over in the circumstances he did.
"He was lucky to get away with it at the weekend and I thought [his selection] was slightly strange. I'm slightly surprised he took the risk that he did, although I like the fact he trusts his fringe players are still good enough to get the job done - which ultimately they were.
Zidane rested many of his first-team stars for the visit of Deportivo and having been 2-1 down with just six minutes remaining, managed to get the win to set a new club record unbeaten run.
Gibson added: "I was really surprised he didn't have some of the big-hitters on the bench to use when it was critical at the end. He got away with it, but that's not luck. He could have called on Cristiano Ronaldo, Luka Modric or Karim Benzema when there was 10 or 15 minutes to go and the result was in the balance, but it worked.
"I don't think there's been any bad luck in the run, but I certainly don't think luck has played a significant part in it. But we have to give a hell of a lot of credit to their never-say-die attitude.
"We talk about footballers becoming really academic in terms of tactics and philosophies and stuff, but Ramos just epitomises what this Real Madrid are all about."
