Real Madrid - Deportivo La Coruna: Zidane era begins at the Bernabeu

Zinedine Zidane will kick off his tenure as Real Madrid boss on Saturday night when Los Blancos welcome Deportivo La Coruna to the Santiago Bernabeu.

Zidane was appointed on Monday less than 24 hours after Real were held to a 2-2 draw against Valencia at Mestella. The Real hierarchy decided that result would be the final act in Rafa Benitez's stint in charge and that it was time for Zidane - who has been getting groomed for the job - to step into the hot seat.

Zidane returns to Real

The 43-year-old has a long history with the club having signed for a world record fee from Juventus back in 2001. Zidane won one league title and one Champions League with Los Blancos before retiring from football after the 2006 World Cup finals. He returned to the club in 2013 as Carlo Ancelotti's assistant and held the role for one season as Real won the Copa del Rey and Champions League. After the 2013/14 season it was decided Zidane would take charge of Real Madrid Castilla although for the first season he was listed as assistant due to not having the required coaching badges. Those badges were obtained in the summer and he has remained with Castilla until Monday when Real's president, Florentino Perez decided to make the change.

Zidane was unveiled as Real Madrid boss on Monday (Sky Sports)

Zidane will take over a Real Madrid team that is blessed with individual talent but that has underperformed over the last 18 months and his first task will be to find a winning formula as Real play catch up in La Liga. Los Blancos are currently third in the standings, four points behind leaders Atletico Madrid. Real are the league's top scorers with 47 goals in their 18 games but they have struggled to earn wins in their games against the top clubs. Their home form has been good and apart from the heavy defeat to Barcelona in El Classico they have won seven of their other eight games at the Bernabeu.

Deportivo hard to beat

Saturday's opponents, Deportivo La Coruna, are enjoying an excellent season considering they only just survived on the last day of last season. Victor Sanchez has brought the club a long way in his nine months in charge and they currently sit 7th in La Liga. Depor have been hard to beat, losing just three times in the league. However, they have drawn nine games which is more than anyone else in the league. In their last seven games in all competitions they have won just once although five were draws and they would be more than happy to earn another point on Saturday.

Zidane will have a strong squad to pick from with just Mateo Kovacic ruled out through suspension after his red card in the draw with Valencia. The new coach has already said he will play Gareth Bale, Karim Benzema and Cristiano Ronaldo but it remains to be seen who else will join them and in what system. Sanchez has a few more issues than his counterpart with Fabricio Agosto and Celso Borges already ruled out and Cani is also listed as doubtful.

Real Madrid will be strong favourites to beat Deportivo as the squad to look to impress their new manager. However, if Real show any weakness at all Deportivo will be quick to punish them. Only Barcelona have lost less games than the Galicians and if Real are to win the game they will have to work hard to earn it.