Real Madrid suffered a humiliating loss at the hands of Wolfsburg in Germany on Wednesday night. The Germans outclassed their superior opponents and will take a two-goal advantage to the Bernabeu next week.
If the club do bow out from the competition they will intensify their chase for Jose Mourinho as Zinedine’s Zidane’s replacement next season according to journalist Ed Malyon. Mourinho was in charge of the club between 2010 and 2013 helping them win their first La Liga title since 2008.
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But a failure to put an end to Barcelona’s dominance and a reported rift in his relationship with some of the players saw his tenure ended abruptly by the club after he had signed a new four-year deal the same season.
The ‘Special One’ has been constantly linked with Manchester United since the beginning of the year after Louis Van Gaal has been unable to achieve the high standards and expectations the fans have demanded.
United are currently 5th in the table only a point off fourth-placed Manchester City but rumours of Van Gaal's exit fail to die down despite how close the club are to a top four finish as well as still being in the FA Cup.
There are even reports that suggest Mourinho has signed a pre-contract agreement with the club to take over which contains a separation clause in the event of the board deciding against his appointment.
Florentino Perez reportedly tried to re-appoint the former manager in January after sacking Rafael Benitez but was rebuffed by the Portuguese because he was confident of landing the United job. Zidane was announced as the new head coach the morning after Benitez’s sacking.
The Wolfsburg defeat came as a huge shock to the club’s fans with the front three of Bale, Ronaldo and Benzema putting in anonymous performances. They are still marked as favourites to overturn the two-goal deficit in the home leg but there is a strong possibility of a major upset in the competition.
Ed Woodward will most likely not fire Van Gaal even if the Dutchman is unable to steer United to a top four finish since his position as the club’s director of Football Operations also might come under scrutiny and Perez might see this as an opportunity to steal a march on the race for his signature.
Mourinho probably prefers a move to England but if things don’t turn out the way he wants a return to Madrid looks the most likely outcome in the summer.
