Santiago Solari replaced him and lasted only until March, when Zidane was summoned back to the Santiago Bernabeu less than a year after he stepped down.

The Frenchman had guided Real to three consecutive Champions League titles but saw his side relinquish its title after being dismantled by Ajax in the quarterfinals last season.

Following a season without silverware, Zidane embarked on a major overhaul in the summer, to freshen up the side.

At the time of writing, the Spanish giants have spent $340 million on players. Eden Hazard joined from Chelsea and Luka Jovic left Bundesliga outfit Eintracht Frankfurt, while Ferland Mendy joined from Olympique Lyon and Eder Militao and Rodrygo arrived from Porto and Santos respectively.

Attempts to lure Paul Pogba to Madrid, however, have failed as Manchester United has refused to listen to offers for the Frenchman. While Spanish clubs have until September 2 to sign players, Zidane hinted it might be difficult to land the World Cup winner.

“Paul Pogba is a Manchester United player and we must respect this,” the Real Madrid coach said in his press conference on Friday. “I’m happy with my players.”

While Zidane might have accepted Pogba will not join him in Madrid, the midfielder’s brother, Mathias, believes otherwise.

“Paul wants to move,” he said during an interview with Spanish outlet El Chiringuito. “In the team he is in now, he can’t do everything. If [Real manager Zinedine] Zidane doesn’t have the things he wants, it’ll be difficult for him.

“Zidane is one of the greats and I think that if the club give him what he wants, he won’t have a problem, but if they don’t give it to him, he’s going to have a hard time because what he wants is not going to happen, because right now it’s a little late.”

Aside from failing to land Pogba, plans to offload Gareth Bale and his $18.7 million-a-year after-tax contract, which runs until 2022, have also hit a stumbling block.

Last month Zidane said he hoped the Welshman would find a new club this summer, but a move to China collapsed at the 11th hour and Bale’s reluctance to take a pay cut has priced him out of a move to other European clubs.

Against that backdrop, Real kicks off its league campaign on Saturday, when it travels to Vigo to face Celta.

Here’s everything you need to know ahead of the game.

When and where is the game?

Real Madrid takes on Celta Vigo at the Abanca-Balaidos Stadium in Vigo on Saturday, August 17, with kick-off scheduled for 5 p.m. local time (11 p.m. ET).

Real Madrid won both meetings last season and leads the all-time series with 21 wins, while Celta have won seven games and there have been four draws between the two sides.

TV coverage

The game will be broadcast live on beIN SPORTS and beIN SPORTS en Español.

Live stream

Live stream will be available via beIN Sports website, and beIN Sports’ digital platforms as well as via fuboTV.

Form

Real Madrid endured a difficult preseason, losing to Tottenham Hotspur, Bayern Munich and Roma (albeit the latter came on penalties) and suffering a 7-3 drubbing at the hands of local rivals Atletico Madrid. Wins over Turkish side Fenerbache and Austria’s Red Bull Salzburg were encouraging but not enough to consider the summer a success.

Celta, on the other hand, won its first three friendlies without conceding a goal, but lost the last two.

Team news

Celta Vigo will be at full strength on Saturday, but the same cannot be said of Real Madrid.

New summer signing Ferland Mendy and winger Brahim Diaz will both miss the first game of the season because of injury, while Marco Asensio will be sidelined for almost the entire season after rupturing his ACL against Arsenal in preseason.

Eden Hazard is also unavailable after Real confirmed on Friday that he has suffered a muscular injury to his right thigh.

Odds

According to Oddschecker, Real is an 31/50 favorite (-162 in moneyline terms), while the draw is at 33/10 and Celta is at 4/1.