Rafael Benítez has been sacked as the manager of Real Madrid, just seven months into a three-year contract at the Bernabéu, with Zinedine Zidane taking over.
Benítez’s Real Madrid future was decided at an emergency board meeting on Monday.
His final act was overseeing Sunday's 2-2 draw with Gary Neville's Valencia at the Mestalla, in which Real were reduced to 10 men and twice pegged back, leaving them in third place in La Liga, four points behind the leaders Atlético Madrid.
Benítez struggled to find favour among the supporters at Real, not helped by the 4-0 defeat to Barcelona in November’s Clásico or a failure to introduce the kind of style demanded at the Bernabéu. Rumours of unrest in his squad had been frequent and last week he accused the media of a campaign against himself, the club and the president, Florentino Peréz.
Zidane was the world’s most expensive player when he arrived at the Bernabéu in 2001, spending five years at the club and winning La Liga and the Champions League. Since 2014 he has been coaching Real Madrid’s B team.
“Firstly I would like to thank the club and the president for giving me the chance to coach this team,” he said when announced as Benítez successor on Monday. “We have the best club in the world and the best fans in the world'.
No comments:
Post a Comment