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Looking for a quick turnaround of their current situation, Real Madrid showed Julen Lopetegui the way out after their disappointing defeat against their rivals FC Barcelona.
After receiving their third straight defeat in the league and finding themselves in ninth place, the decision to give Lopetegui the axe was a simple one to make for the board of directors given the ambition they still have for the season.
Initial reports suggested Antonio Conte will be taking over the vacant managerial position, however, reports emerged that some key players didn't agree to the said decision.
They have then tapped the services of former Real Madrid player and Real Madrid Castilla manager Santiago Solari who is to be the interim manager. The 42-year-old gaffer has won two league titles during his time as a player back in 2000-01 and 2002-03 season.
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He's also won two Supercopa de Espana, a Champions League title in the 2001-02 season and UEFA Super Cup in 2002. With his experience in playing with Zinedine Zidane whom he provided a pass for the Frenchman's exquisite strike against Bayer Leverkusen, Los Blancos are quite positive with the appointment of Solari as the new sheriff in town.
Solari's managerial stints began with Real Madrid youth squad as well as with RM Castilla who's playing in the second division of the Spanish League. Despite a lot of expectations for the new gaffer, Real remains positive with the move.
Though he's already embedded at the Real Madrid system, he only managed to lead Real Madrid's B-side to an 11th place finish in his first season back in 2016. An improvement of that feat came last season as he was able to lead them to eighth place.
Before leaving RM Castilla for the first team this season, Solari managed to bring five wins in 10 games leading them to fifth place. Now that he's presented with a bigger challenge to turn things around for the first team, he'll be managing the squad against Melila in to open their Copa del Rey campaign.
Although Solari, as mentioned above, has been appointed as an interim manager for the time being, a good stint might help his chances in landing a long-time contract with the record UCL champions.
