Rafa Benitez has been fired as Real Madrid coach and the club has named Zinedine Zidane as his replacement.
Benitez’s dismissal comes one day after the Los Blancos were held to a 2-2 draw by Valencia, leaving the 32-time Spanish champions four points behind Atletico Madrid, who are top of La Liga.
The former Liverpool and Inter Milan boss, struggled to win over the players and fans, since he took over from Carlo Ancelotti last summer.
He has been under pressure, since Madrid lost back-to-back against Sevilla and Barcelona in November and president Florentino Perez has now decided to sack him.
Perez called Zidane “one of the greatest players of all time,” and told him: “Zidane, you are from this moment, the manager of Real Madrid. This is your stadium, this is your club.”
Until now, Zidane was managing Madrid’s B team, but has held several coaching roles at the Santiago Bernabeu.
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