Bettoni assists Zidane but is not his assistant, say Real Madrid

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Bettoni assists Zidane but is not his assistant, say Real Madrid - Real Madrid have insisted David Bettoni has not been appointed as Zinedine Zidane's assistant coach after his qualifications were questioned.

Bettoni is a childhood friend of Zidane's and Catalan newspaper Mundo Deportivo pointed out that he had been seen giving instructions to players despite not holding the required Uefa Pro Licence.

But Madrid insist Bettoni is only part of a technical team assisting Zidane and say the Frenchman does not have a formal No.2.

"Real Madrid would like to inform [the public] that David Bettoni is not the assistant coach of the first team as stated in some reports published in the last few hours," said a statement on the club's website.

"As Zinedine Zidane said in the press conference when he was presented as first team coach on the 5th of January, he doesn't have an assistant coach.