Real Madrid new manager: Ottmar Hitzfeld calls appointment of Zinedine Zidane 'madness'

Ottmar Hitzfeld has called Real Madrid's decision to appoint Zinedine Zidane as their new coach "madness". The 66-year-old manager – who ended his trophy-laden career after taking Switzerland to the 2014 World Cup – has blasted Los Blancos' move to replace Rafa Benitez with the Frenchman.

The German called the decision illogical, given Zidane's lack of top coaching experience. He added that the three-time Fifa world player of the year "is living off his illustrious name as a footballer".

"For [Zidane] it is like winning the lottery jackpot. It is madness," he said, according to Yahoo. "Zidane has proven nothing as a coach and he is now in charge of the biggest stars in the world. It is an incredibly difficult task, although I hope it goes well for him."

Zidane's coaching experience to date includes 18 months at the helm of Real Madrid's B-team, Castilla. He also served as a member of Carlo Ancelotti's backroom staff during the Italian's time at the Bernabeu.

However, the World Cup-winning midfielder has been backed to succeed by former Real coach Vanderlei Luxemburgo, with the caveat that he must not be undermined by Cristiano Ronaldo. The Brazilian – who had an 11-month spell at Madrid in 2005/06 – told Marca: "Zidane was a leader in the dressing room when he was a player, so Cristiano Ronaldo will have to understand that there will be a person with leadership and with great knowledge of football there.

"The dressing room belongs to the players up to a certain point. From then on it belongs to the coach. If Cristiano Ronaldo thinks he's the coach it's difficult. He has to understand he's a player and not a coach. The coach is Zidane.

"If you can make those things clear it doesn't matter if it's Cristiano Ronaldo or [Lionel] Messi. Barcelona is a good example that Messi is just a player. He was a player with [Pep] Guardiola and is still a player with Luis Enrique. He's a star but is still a player. That's his limit."