After their 2-1 win over Villarreal last week saw Real Madrid secure their 34th LaLiga title, Los Blancos assistant coach David Bettoni credited the team's mentality as the main reason for their domestic success.
Bettoni, who has known head coach Zinedine Zidane for about 30 years now, believes the squad were mentally focused and well equipped to adapt to the unprecedented coronavirus and its aftermath.
"We both thought, 'What are we going to do with these months of lockdown?' and we decided to embark on a new concept of training and looked for a more creative approach," he told L'Equipe, according to Spanish publication AS.
"We saw that our players needed a new, fresh mental focus and we concentrated on that aspect of things. Many feel we worked exclusively on the physical side of things but that's not how it was, there was a major psychological approach involved.
"The key to our success was both on an individual level from the squad and this coupled with a creative approach on dealing with a situation (coronavirus) that we'd never come up against before."
The former Cannes midfielder also added that Zidane's man-management style and calm demeanour helped the squad stay level-headed.
"He (Zidane) has a wonderful relationship with the squad and this is not a method but simply a natural connection between the players," Bettoni continued.
"He respects them and this is reciprocated by the team. Zidane is an individual who never blows his cool and always remains calm under pressure."
