Carlo Ancelotti believes Zinedine Zidane's good relationship with his players is the key to his success at Real Madrid.
Madrid missed out on setting a new LaLiga record on Wednesday when they were held to a 1-1 draw by Villarreal, Zidane's team failing to record what would have been a record 17th consecutive league win.
Zidane served as assistant to the current Bayern Munich coach at the Santiago Bernabeu side in 2013-14 and Ancelotti has revealed it was then already clear to see all the players respected the Frenchman.
"Zidane has a lot of charisma and the players respect him. I saw it when he was still my assistant and I think that's the key to his success," Ancelotti told L'Equipe.
"The players had problems with [Rafael] Benitez and then everything changed when Zizou came in. The players are all fully behind him.
"He has studied a lot to get where he is now. He had the courage to become my assistant and had the courage to coach Castilla. And he knows the club.
"Plus he has a great relationship with the players. Your relation with the players is what matters most in the end. I think all coaches should understand that. The better your relationship with the players, the closer you are to them, the better the results are.
"Zizou is still young and it is only his second year in charge of Madrid. He will continue to improve his knowledge of the game and gain more experience. Football changes every day."
