Zidane Says Guardiola 'best Coach in the World'

Madrid, Dec 21 (AFP) Zinedine Zidane insisted Saturday his key aim this season was to win La Liga with Real Madrid, but admitted they faced a thrilling challenge trying to outwit Pep Guardiola and Manchester City, who they meet in the last 16 of the Champions League.

Zidane, who has won three Champions Leagues as a coach compared to Guardiola's two, described the Catalan as "the best coach in the world".

The two sides meet in Madrid on February 26 before heading to Manchester for the second leg on March 17.

"It'll be fabulous to play against him (Guardiola)," said Zidane, speaking ahead of Real's game against Athletic Bilbao on Sunday, their final Liga match ahead of the winter break.

"I respected him as a player and now as a coach. He's the top coach in the world and has proved it throughout his career."

Guardiola coached Barcelona to the 2009 and 2011 Champions League titles. He went on to win plaudits at Bayern Munich and City with domestic championships but has failed to land a third Champions League title.

"So it'll be a pleasure for me and a pleasure for all of us to come up against him and his team," said Zidane.

Real are currently level with Barcelona on 36 points on top of la Liga after their 0-0 draw on Wednesday. Athletic Bilbao are seventh, nine points behind.

"Bilbao is another rival and a different proposition. We will play them with all our energy, it's the last game of the year.

"The league is our priority and we will fight for it all the way," he said. (AFP) ATK ATK 12212036 NNNNst the Citizenship Amendment Act.

Wasim was seriously injured during stone-pelting and had to be admitted to a hospital, the Association said.

Also an attempt was made to allegedly manhandle a video journalist of Zee News, Jaideep, camera of a news channel was damaged while another's was taken but not returned as yet, it said, adding journalists were attacked in Sambhal and media OB vans were torched in Lucknow too.

In a separate incident, armed men shot dead electronic media journalist, Jobanpreet Singh and Gurchet Singh, working for a vernacular daily in Moga in Punjab.

The Association is anguished over such incidents and demands speedy investigation to deter perpetrators of such crimes, the statement said.

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)