Guillem Balague: 'Zinedine Zidane's future not certain'

Respected Spanish journalist Guillem Balague has claimed that Real Madrid might decide to sack Zinedine Zidane at the end of the current season.

Zidane only took charge of first-team affairs in January, replacing the unpopular Rafael Benitez in the process.

The 43-year-old has only lost once since taking charge of the Spanish giants, but that came at home to close rivals Atletico Madrid last weekend.

As it stands, Los Blancos are 12 points off the league leaders Barcelona and Balague has hinted that only a Champions League trophy would stop president Florentino Perez from changing the manager once again.

"Real Madrid have to decide who is going to be their next manager," Balague told Sky Sports News. "They have called few [managers], but they want to see what happens in the Champions League before reinforcing Zidane's position. It is quite funny as only few weeks ago Zidane was guaranteed to stay. Now, it is a 'we will see' from the club."

Real Madrid return to La Liga action on Saturday afternoon at home to Celta Vigo.