On This Day: Zidane stepped down as Madrid manager; Conte appointed by Juve

Hi all, welcome to All Football's On This Day! Let's find out what happened today (May 31th) in football history. If you have more stories and news that happened on this day in history, feel free to post them in the comment area and share them with AFers.

One this day in 2018 - Zinedine Zidane left Real Madrid after winning nine trophies in two years

Zinedine Zidane has stepped down as Real Madrid manager following a brief spell of unprecedented success as a first-time coach after winning 9 trophies including 3 consecutive UCL title on May 31, 2018.

The Frenchman, a World Cup and Champions League winner as a player, took over from Rafael Benitez mid-season in January 2016 and steered Madrid back on course to win their 11th European Cup.

But nobody could have predicted that Zidane would complete the feat of defending that trophy last season, also adding La Liga to net an impressive double.

As we all know, Zinedine Zidane returned to Real Madrid as coach for second spell, replaced his former teammate Santiago Solari, who was promoted to the role of Real coach after Julen Lopetegui was dismissed following a poor run of form in October.

On this day in 2011 - Antonio Conte appointed as Juventus manager

Former midfielder Antonio Conte became the latest in a long line of coaches tasked with trying to revive the fortunes of once mighty Juventus. Conte has signed a two-year contract, the Turin-based club said in a statement. Juve, who finished seventh in Serie A for a second successive season, sacked Luigi Del Neri last season after just one term in charge and have turned to the Siena coach having been linked with the 41-year-old in the past.

But just several hours ago Juve's bitter rivals Inter Milan announced the appointment of Conte as new manager. Over 7,000 furious Juventus fans have signed a petition to remove Antonio Conte's star from the club's stadium following his appointment.

On this day in 1972 - Ajax won the second of three straight European Cups

They beat Inter 2-0 with both goals coming from Johan Cruyff. The reigning European Cup champions, Ajax had already claimed a domestic double that season, winning both the Eredivisie and the KNVB Cup. Cruyff, the 1971 Ballon d'Or winner, had finished the season as the league's top scorer with 25 goals. 

The two teams met at De Kuip in Rotterdam, where a partisan crowd of 61,354 gathered for the event. They were rewarded with what some commentators described as "Total Football's greatest moment," as the free-flowing and constantly-shifting Ajax side unlocked Inter's defensive catenaccio formation, with Cruyff scoring in the 47th and 78th minutes.

Ajax repeated as champions in 1973, then again in 1995, while Inter claimed a third title in 2010.

On this day in 2009 - Juventus legend Nedved played his last match for the club

As Pavel Nedvěd walked off the pitch for the final time he could’ve been forgiven for wondering what exactly was going on. He was being substituted in the 89th minute of his last game for Juventus to allow the Turin crowd to send him off with a rapturous standing ovation. Remarkably, it wasn’t just the Juve fans that were standing and applauding, the away fans took to their feet as well. For someone of Nedvěd’s stature, it shouldn’t have been surprising.

A great player being shown respect by fans of opposing teams has happened on a number of occasions – after all, Ronaldinho achieved such a response from the Real Madrid faithful while playing for Barcelona. However, if you left your previous employers amid fans protesting your departure you wouldn’t expect much adoration – but love is exactly what the away Lazio fans gave Nedvěd that day, demonstrating the level of respect he garnered throughout his time in calcio.

The rest of his career was played out like a long farewell. Nedvěd had been thinking about retirement as far back as 2006 but didn’t feel the moment was right, until February 2009 when he was 36.

And so it leads us back to the moment he is walking off the pitch. Both fans from Juventus and Lazio standing for him, clapping for him, and wistfully recalling his greatest moments in their minds as he walked off into a new life.

That new life still keeps him busy. As well as being an avid fitness fanatic and golf player, he is now Juve’s vice president and plays a major role in their transfer dealings, as well as other day-to-day decisions. Still passionate as ever, he was banned for three weeks for berating a referee during a game not long ago.

On this day in 1961 - Benfica won their first European Cup, beating Barcelona 3-2. 

It was the first final for both teams and the first European Cup not won by Real Madrid. In the final, played before a crowd of 33,000 at the Wankdorf Stadium in Bern, Barcelona took the lead with a header from forward Sándor Kocsis in the 20th minute. But Benfica quickly rallied and were up 2-1 at the break thanks to a goal from captain José Águas (pictured) in the 30th minute and an own goal from Barcelona goalkeeper Antoni Ramallets (32'), who attempted to knock the ball away, but sent it off the bar and across the goal. Ramallets and the other Barcelona players argued that the ball did not cross the line, but the referee did not hesitate to award the goal. A powerful 55th-minute volley from inside-left Mário Coluna extended Benfica's lead and proved to be the decisive goal, as Barcelona left winger Zoltán Czibor pulled one back in the 75th minute to set the final margin at 3-2 in favor of the Portuguese.

On this day in 1989 - Marco Reus was born

Reus spent his youth career at Borussia Dortmund, prior to leaving for Rot Weiss Ahlen. He joined Borussia Mönchengladbach in 2009, where he had his most successful season in 2012 when, scoring 18 goals and having 8 assists in the Bundesliga, he helped Borussia Mönchengladbach secure a place in the following season's UEFA Champions League. Reus joined his home club Borussia Dortmund at the end of that season, helping the club reaching the 2013 UEFA Champions League Final in his first season. With Dortmund, Reus won the DFL-Supercup twice in 2013, 2014 and the DFB-Pokal in 2017, and has scored over 100 goals for the club.

With the Germany national team, Reus has only 39 caps, due to his recurring injuries in recent years. He missed the 2014 FIFA World Cup, which Germany won.