5 managers who could replace Zinedine Zidane if Real Madrid sack him
Time is a funny old thing. When Zinedine Zidane left the club at the end of the 2017-18 season, a majority of the fans were in tears to see their legendary coach leave after winning the Champions League three times in a row.
At the time, they knew that they were staring at an abyss. And just a few months later, their fears were realized as Madrid sacked the man they had brought in to replace the Frenchman.
A few more months later, Julen Lopetegui’s successor was also sacked. This time, however, Santiago Solari was replaced by none other than Zidane – the man was back again.
The fans cheered the appointment, looked to him as their savior. He was the second coming of Christ, or the 10th avatar of Lord Vishnu. But little did they know that this was going to turn out to be a case of Caesar leading Rome.
Now, with Real Madrid second in the league and staring at the embarrassment of getting knocked out of the Champions League from the group stages itself, it is do-or-die for Zidane. A loss tonight against Galatasaray could be the end of his second spell at the Bernabeu.
He can still save himself with a good performance, but on the off chance that he doesn’t, here are five managers that Madrid could look at to replace him:
#5 Jose Mourinho
We will start with the more infamous names. Jose Mourinho has already had a spell at Real Madrid and it was something of a mixed bag. The Portuguese brought league success to the Bernabeu but couldn’t win the coveted Champions League – the competition for which he was specially brought in.
Before he left, Mourinho had lost the dressing room after colliding with the senior-most players of the squad. Since then, he has had to face the sack at whichever club he has managed.
However, there are quite a few reports linking him with a move to Los Merengues, as Florentino Perez still seems to be a fan of him. But the players – especially Sergio Ramos – might not be too keen on having Mourinho back at the club.