Real Madrid fired coach Rafael Benitez after just seven months in charge on Monday, with club legend Zinedine Zidane replacing the Spaniard.
“We have taken the difficult decision to rescind the contract of Rafael Benitez as coach,” Madrid president Florentino Perez said. “The Real Madrid board has decided to name Zinedine Zidane as coach of the first team.”
However, the club did not announce the length of Zidane’s contract.
Benitez’s unhappy reign came to an end after a 2-2 draw away to Valencia on Sunday left Madrid four points adrift of local rivals Atletico Madrid at the top of La Liga.
They also trail eternal rivals Barcelona by two points, having played a game more.
Zidane scored a sensational winning goal to hand Madrid the 2001-2002 Champions League as a player, but is short on managerial experience, having only ever taken charge of Madrid’s feeder team, Castilla.
The 43-year-old failed to get Castilla promoted from the third tier of Spanish soccer last season, but they currently lie second in the regional Segunda Division B, having lost just two of 19 games this season.
And the Frenchman was part of Carlo Ancelotti’s coaching staff when they won the Champions League and Copa del Rey in 2013-2014.
“We have the best club in the world, the best fans and what we have to do now, and what I will try my best to do, is ensure the team wins at the end of the season,” Zidane said. “I am more emotional than when I signed as a player, but that is normal, and from tomorrow, I am going to put my heart into doing all I can for this club.”
Zidane is to take charge of his first game as boss at home to RC Deportivo de la Coruna on Saturday.
Perez had publicly backed Benitez, despite the growing pressure in recent weeks, which saw him routinely jeered by his own fans, but is believed to have finally bowed to the will of the players and supporters.
Zidane is the 11th coach to be appointed under Perez in just over 12 years in two spells in charge of the club.
“As president it is an honour to have you at my side because I know for you the word impossible doesn’t exist,” Perez said. “Without any doubt, Zidane is one of the greatest figures in the history of football.”
Right from the start of his reign in June, Benitez struggled to gain the respect of Madrid’s star-studded squad, with many senior players voicing their displeasure at the firing of his predecessor, Ancelotti.
A run of three league defeats in five games in November and last month, including a 4-0 thrashing at home to Barcelona, wiped away the early credit Benitez had gained with an unbeaten 14-game run to start his reign.
Further embarrassment was to follow when Madrid were thrown out of the Copa del Rey for fielding an ineligible player last month.
Benitez’s relationship with the dressing room also failed to improve, with key players, such as Karim Benzema and James Rodriguez, often showing their disgust at being substituted.
Bologna on Thursday advanced past Empoli to reach their first Coppa Italia final in more than half a century. Thijs Dallinga’s 87th-minute header earned Bologna a 2-1 win and his side advanced 5-1 on aggregate. Giovanni Fabbian opened the scoring for Bologna with a header seven minutes in. Then Viktor Kovalenko equalized for Empoli in the 30th minute by turning in a rebound to finish off a counterattack. Bologna won the first leg 3-0. In the May 14 final in Rome, Bologna are to face AC Milan, who eliminated city rivals Inter 4-1 on aggregate following a 3-0 win on Wednesday. Bologna last reached the
If the Wild finally break through and win their first playoff series in a decade, Minnesota’s top line likely will be the reason. They were all over the Golden Knights through the first two games of their NHL Western Conference quarter-finals series, which was 1-1 going back to Minnesota for Game 3 today. The Wild tied the series with a 5-2 win on Tuesday. Matt Boldy had three goals and an assist in the first two games, while Kirill Kaprizov produced two goals and three assists. Joel Eriksson Ek, who centers the line, has yet to get on the scoresheet. “I think the biggest
From a commemorative jersey to a stadium in his name, Argentine soccer organizers are planning a slew of tributes to their late “Captain” Pope Francis, eulogized as the ultimate team player. Tributes to the Argentine pontiff, a lifelong lover of the game, who died on Monday at the age of 88, have been peppered with soccer metaphors in his homeland. “Francisco. What a player,” the Argentine Football Federation (AFA) said, describing the first pope from Latin America and the southern hemisphere as a generational talent who “never hogged the ball” and who showed the world “the importance of having an Argentine captain,
Noelvi Marte on Sunday had seven RBIs and hit his first career grand slam with a drive off infielder Jorge Mateo, while Austin Wynn had a career-high six RBIs as the Cincinnati Reds scored their most runs in 26 years in a 24-2 rout of the Baltimore Orioles. Marte finished with five hits, including his eighth-inning homer off Mateo. Wynn hit a three-run homer in the ninth off catcher Gary Sanchez. Cincinnati scored its most runs since a 24-12 win against the Colorado Rockies on May 19, 1999, and finished with 25 hits. Baltimore allowed its most runs since a 30-3 loss to