Source: THE GUARDIAN NIGERIA
Rafael Benitez has been sacked as manager of Real Madrid after just seven months in charge at the Bernabeu.
The 55-year-old Spaniard was relieved of his duties following a meeting of the club’s board yesterday.
Real’s B team coach Zinedine Zidane, 43, has been promoted to the role of first-team boss.
Frenchman Zidane, a former Real player and World Cup winner, said: “I am
going to put my heart and soul into this job so that everything works
out well.” Zinedine Zidane is the first French manager in Real Madrid’s history.
For a man with no experience of managing at the top level, Zidane’s
appointment could be considered a risk – but he has long been seen as a
future Real boss.
Zidane has been coach of Real’s B team – who are second in the
Spanish third tier – since 2014. Prior to that he was an integral member
of the backroom staff under then Real boss Carlo Ancelotti, who led the
side to ‘La Decima’ – the club’s 10th European Cup.
During his playing career, the Frenchman was one of Real’s key
‘Galacticos’ – a label given to the expensive players signed by club
president Florentino Perez in the early to mid-2000s.
Real paid Juventus a then world record fee of £45.8m in 2001 for the
midfielder, who had already won the World Cup and European Championship.
At the Bernabeu, he played alongside players such as Luis Figo, Raul
and Ronaldo, and also featured in the same midfield as England captain
David Beckham.
During a five-year stay, he helped the side win the Spanish league in
2003 and was named Fifa world player of the year for the third time
that year.
But perhaps his defining moment came during the 2002 Champions League
final, when he scored a stunning volley against Bayer Leverkusen at
Hampden Park.
Valencia fans unfurled a banner at the Mestalla on Sunday thanking their former manager
Benitez may be loved in Liverpool and Valencia, but his reputation as a
manager has diminished in his past two jobs – at Napoli and Real.
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