Real Madrid fired its coach, Rafael Benítez, on Monday and replaced him with
Zinedine Zidane, the former French star who most recently has been in charge of the club’s second team.
In dropping Benítez after only half a season, Real Madrid is switching from one of Europe’s most experienced coaches to the largely untested Zidane, who only started coaching Castilla, Real Madrid’s B team, in 2014, after spending a year on the bench as assistant to Madrid’s coach at the time, Carlo Ancelotti.
Considered one of the best attacking midfielders in the history of soccer, Zidane ended his brilliant playing career as one of Real Madrid’s so-called Galácticos, the world stars recruited by Madrid’s longstanding president, Florentino Pérez, for large sums. He is also remembered for being ejected from his last game, the World Cup final, for head-butting an Italian player, Marco Materazzi, in the chest.
Madrid and its coach, Benítez, have come under pressure since November, when Madrid fell behind in the Liga race and was crushed at home, 4-0, by arch rival Barcelona in the Clásico. In that match, a large section of the Madrid fans also called for the resignation of Pérez, the president. Pérez, however, then held a news conference in which he vowed to continue at the helm and also retain Benítez as coach. Pérez reiterated his confidence in Benítez as recently as three weeks ago.
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