Pressure is building on Real Madrid manager Zinedine Zidane, as a 2-1 loss to Levante at the Bernabeu on Saturday left Los Blancos with just a single win in their last five matches.
The defeat to mid-table Levante comes just over a week after the shock loss to third-tier minnows Alcoyano in the Copa del Rey, while a loss to Athletic Bilbao in the Super Cup also saw an opportunity for silverware go by the wayside for Real.
Zidane’s side now trail neighbours and rivals Atletico Madrid by ten points in La Liga having played a game more, and Real Madrid president Florentino Perez is believed to be considering a change of manager to turn the side’s fortunes around.
Here, i looks at the three leading candidates should Zidane be removed from his post.
Massimiliano Allegri
Six-time Serie A winner Allegri has been without a job since leaving Juventus in 2019 and is one of the most experienced managers currently available in Europe.
Thomas Tuchel and Mauricio Pochettino were believed to be of interest to Perez, but the pair’s recent moves to Chelsea and Paris Saint-Germain respectively have left Allegri as the frontrunner to replace Zidane.
It wouldn’t be the first time that Real have approached the Italian, with Allegri recently telling Marca that he turned the club down in 2018.
“Two years ago there was contact, but nothing came of it because I had a contract with Juve,” Allegri said. “Furthermore, I had a strong moral commitment to Juventus and its fans.”
The 53-year-old is believed to still be on good terms with Perez and would now be tempted into taking his first managerial job outside of Italy.
Raúl
Real Madrid have been grooming their legendary former striker to be a future first-team coach ever since his retirement from playing in 2015.
Raúl was heavily involved with the youth teams at the club while training for his coaching badges, and has been head coach of Real Madrid Castilla (the club’s reserve side) since 2019.
The 43-year-old would fit a similar profile to Zidane, commanding respect courtesy of his record as the second highest goalscorer in Real Madrid’s history with 323 goals (behind only Cristiano Ronaldo).
But taking such a huge job with no experience of top-flight management could be a risk.
Julian Nagelsmann
Nagelsmann is the hottest property in European management right now. The 33-year-old has been a spectacular success at RB Leipzig, taking the German club to the semi-finals of the Champions League last year and playing some tactically advanced football in the process.
It has been reported that he turned down an approach from Chelsea earlier this month, and he says he also rejected Real Madrid in the past, believing that the offer in 2018 came too early in his career.
“We had phone calls, but in the end the one who decided was me. I believed it was not the right step to go to Real Madrid at that time,” he told Marca.
“We agreed that we could talk again in the future if Real Madrid needed a coach – and I was available.”
The German would however be a significant departure in managerial style from Zidane, demanding a high-energy pressing game from all of his players.
from Football – inews.co.uk https://ift.tt/3ou6aaY
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