Real Madrid appoint Rafael Benitez as new coach

Real Madrid have appointed Rafael Benitez as their new coach

Real Madrid have appointed former Valencia, Liverpool, Inter Milan, Chelsea and Napoli coach, Rafael Benitez as their new manager. He has been signed a 3-year contract with the Madrid-based team. He will replace Carlo Ancelotti who was sacked at the end of the season.

It has been quite clear for some time now that Benitez would be the next in the hot seat, as he himself confirmed his move to Real a few days back. He had also said that he couldn’t wait to get started.

Real Madrid made the appointment official by releasing a statement on the club’s official website - “Real Madrid CF will present Rafa Benítez as the new first-team coach for the next three seasons today, Wednesday 3 June. The ceremony will take place at 1 pm CEST [12pm BST] in the presidential box of the Santiago Bernabéu. Following his unveiling, Rafa Benítez will hold a press conference in the press room.”

Benitez, who was born and brought up in Madrid started his managerial journey at Real Madrid, where he coached the Real Madrid B team before moving to clubs like Valladolid, Osasuna, Extremadura and Tenerife.

But, it was at Valencia that he really earned his name as he won two La Liga titles and the Uefa Cup. From there, he moved to Liverpool in 2004 and won the Champions League in his first season at Anfield. A couple of disappointing assignments came after that, as spells at Inter Milan and Chelsea were unsuccessful.

His time at Napoli was mixed, with him guiding them to a Coppa Italia trophy and 3rd place finish in Serie A in his first year, whereas in his second season they finished in the 5th spot, failing to qualify for Champions League.