A 4-0 blowout loss to rival Barcelona in front of their home fans was regarded as the breaking point for Real Madrid manager Rafa Benitez. Rumors have circulated that Cristiano Ronaldo “exploded” in protest against him following the embarrassing defeat and the locker room appears to be fractured. There were reports that Ronaldo issued an ultimatum to the club that would force them to choose between keeping him or Benitez, which clearly wouldn’t be a very difficult decision for the club.
The team has been competitive in La Liga under Benitez but they haven’t had particularly strong success outside of Spain. For most teams, a top-three finish in Spain would be viewed as pretty good but that’s not the case for Real Madrid.
They’re currently in third but they’re nine points back of Barcelona, which isn’t acceptable by their standards. It looks like Benitez’ time is up at Real Madrid and someone else will have to come in and do better with this talented team. Here is a look at the top four coaching candidates that could succeed Benitez as the permanent manager at Real Madrid.
Zinedine Zidane
There has certainly been plenty of speculation about whether Zidane should and would be the next manager at Real Madrid. While he doesn’t have the same level of experience as some of the other candidates on this list, there is obvious reason to think he will ultimately be Benitez’s successor thanks to a strong recommendation from Carlo Ancelotti. Zidane spent two seasons as Ancelotti’s right hand man. The former Milan boss recently talked about his track record with players and charismatic personality as two of his stronger assets. Zidane already has a relationship with many of the players at Madrid and there is no doubt he would be a fit that makes sense. We’re not sure how strong he is as a strategic coach but he will command the respect of the players if he was their boss. That could be an important factor for a team that has seemingly lost the respect of their coach.
Carlo Ancelotti
Ancelotti himself has been considered one of the top candidates to replace Benitez. His experience as a manager at top clubs in the past would be the biggest difference between him and Zidane. Ancelotti has had plenty of success with top clubs around Europe and according to the betting odds, he is second only to Zidane as the most likely replacement for Benitez at Real Madrid.
Jose Mourinho
The one name that won’t seem to go away in regards to the Real Madrid job is Mourinho, who has been the subject of plenty of rumors over the past couple of weeks following Chelsea’s slow start in the English Premier League. Mourinho is still regarded as one of the top managers in the world and he has both the experience and charisma to lead a top club like Real Madrid. The players would respect him. There has been speculation that Mourinho would like to make a return to Spain at some point and the Real Madrid job could be the opportunity he is looking for in order to make his La Liga return.
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Alejando Sabella
Antonio Conte, Fabio Capello and even Jorge Jesus have all been mentioned in regards to becoming the next manager at Real Madrid but right now, the odds show Sabella as the most likely to succeed Benitez behind Zidane, Ancelotti and Mourinho. The Argentine football manager clearly has the most experience in the spot of any candidate but he hasn’t managed at the club level for some time and it’s still clearly speculative whether or not he would take the job in Spain. The more likely scenario remains one of Zidane, Ancelotti and Mourinho taking over for Benitez at Real Madrid with change coming soon for a club that has suddenly become surrounded by controversy when it comes to the manager position.
