What Zinedine Zidane said to David Beckham after Manchester United 4-3 Real Madrid in 2003 | OneFootball

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David Beckham has revealed what Zinedine Zidane said to him following the famous Champions League quarter-final clash between Manchester United and Real Madrid in 2003.

One of the most memorable games in Champions League history, Man Utd secured a 4-3 victory in front of their home fans at Old Trafford but were eliminated after losing the two-legged tie 6-5 on aggregate. Real Madrid had secured a relatively comfortable 3-1 win over Sir Alex Ferguson’s side in the first leg at the Bernabeu.

Ferguson made the shock decision to drop Beckham to the substitutes’ bench for the second leg in Manchester, instead opting for Ole Gunnar Solskjaer on the right wing. The United manager’s relationship with his star player was already strained by this point and Beckham, by his own admission, was fuming after being benched for the team’s most important game of the season.

What did Beckham do during the match?

The England captain was subbed on the second half, shortly after Ronaldo Nazario had completed his stunning hat-trick for the visitors, and scored twice after entering the fray - including one trademark free-kick. However, it wasn’t enough to prevent United from being dumped out of Europe’s premier cup competition.

Beckham ended up leaving Man Utd weeks later, signing a four-year deal with Real Madrid and becoming the club’s latest Galactico in the process. As well as Ronaldo, the best striker on the planet, Los Blancos also had Roberto Carlos, Luis Figo, Raul, and the aforementioned Zidane - the man widely regarded as the world’s best footballer at the time.

Zidane and Beckham's post-match conversation revealed

While Zidane, who’d scored arguably the greatest goal in Champions League history during the previous season’s final against Bayer Leverkusen, was overshadowed by Ronaldo during the game at Old Trafford, he still played a key role for the Spanish giants - and may have helped Real Madrid sign Beckham that night, too.

On his fascinating new four-part Netflix documentary, Beckham has revealed, 20 years later, exactly what was said during that post-match chat with Zidane where they exchanged shirts. It’s a conversation that Beckham will never forget.

“Zidane came up to me. And he doesn’t speak so much English, Zizou,” United’s legendary former No. 7 said. “He doesn’t really say too much - ever.

“He came up to me, shook hands, and went: ‘You come to Madrid?’. I was like, did Zizou just say that? I love that moment.” Watch the clip below:

What happened next?

Beckham didn’t want to leave Man Utd but once Ferguson had made up his mind to sell, that was it. The club had actually agreed a deal with Barcelona but Beckham, if he was to leave Old Trafford against his wishes, wanted his destination to be his decision - and he only had eyes for one club.

With Zidane’s words still fresh in Beckham’s mind, it was Real Madrid who duly secured the services of the world’s most marketable footballer. The global superstar ended up spending the next four seasons with the La Liga outfit, winning one league title and the Spanish Super Cup, before embarking on a new adventure with LA Galaxy in 2007.

Beckham remains friends with Zidane now. The pair were recently seen together at Inter Miami and posed for a photo alongside Lionel Messi, who joined Beckham’s MLS franchise in the summer.