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With 34 La Liga titles and 13 Champions League wins, Real Madrid are undoubtedly one of the biggest clubs in world football.
Not all of Real Madrid’s managers have been as successful as current boss Zinedine Zidane, though, and many have failed massively.
With all things considered, here are the five worst managers in Real Madrid history.
#1 Julen Lopetegui
Julen Lopetegui’s tenure as boss of Real Madrid got off to a massively controversial start and ended after just three months of pretty woeful results on the pitch.
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The former Porto boss was supposed to be the man to lead Spain into the 2018 World Cup. But following Zinedine Zidane’s departure, Real Madrid were looking for a new manager and eyed Lopetegui up.
Incredibly, Lopetegui publicly agreed to take over at the Bernabeu after the World Cup – only for the Spanish FA to pull the trigger first and fire him on the eve of the tournament.
If Lopetegui was hoping for a smoother ride once he reached the Bernabeu, he was sadly mistaken. Real Madrid slumped to a 4-2 defeat to city rivals Atletico in the UEFA Super Cup in his first game in charge.
It turned out to be a sign of things to come.
Lopetegui’s side got off to a winning start in La Liga, defeating their first three opponents. But by mid-September, Real Madrid hit a real slump.
They went five games without a win. And when Barcelona hammered them 5-1 at the Nou Camp, Los Blancos’ power-brokers had enough and fired Lopetegui.
All in all, his reign lasted just four months – rendering the whole controversy with Spain a bit of a waste of time.
#2 Jose Antonio Camacho
Only a handful of managers tend to return to their previous clubs, and even then, most of those who do were successful in their first stint.
The same cannot be said for Jose Antonio Camacho, who had two spells in charge of Real Madrid, both of which were largely disastrous.
The first came in 1998. Camacho – a former Real Madrid player – joined the club after a successful run at Espanyol.
Bizarrely though, this stint ended without him taking charge of a single game, as he resigned after just 22 days following a fall-out with the club’s board.
Despite this, Los Blancos again turned to Camacho in the summer of 2004, handing him a two-year deal following Carlos Queiroz's departure.
The stint lasted a little longer – around four months this time – but was still an abject disaster.
Camacho’s Real Madrid won their first two league games but suffered a heavy 3-0 defeat in their opening Champions League match against Bayer Leverkusen.
The loss put Camacho under immediate pressure. And while he attempted to change things around by dropping key players for Real’s next match, it backfired badly as they slumped to a 1-0 defeat at the hands of Espanyol.
That was enough for Los Blancos, who dispensed with Camacho just two days later after just six games in charge.
#3 Arsenio Iglesias
More associated with Deportivo La Coruna – who he managed on three occasions during his lengthy career – Arsenio Iglesias’ time at Real Madrid is best left forgotten.
The former striker took over Deportivo for the third time in the 1991-92 season, and then led them to three top three finishes in La Liga during one of the club’s best periods.
Already 65 by the time the 1994-95 campaign concluded, Iglesias decided to retire from management for good – only to be tempted back into the game by Real Madrid in January 1996.
With Real struggling for traction in the league by the time of his arrival, Iglesias was expected to turn things around immediately.
However, he proved that he wasn’t capable of miracles – with Real Madrid ending the season disappointingly in sixth place.
Iglesias’ time with Los Blancos oversaw 10 wins, five defeats, and four draws in La Liga, while he also led them to Champions League elimination at the hands of Juventus.
Once the poor season ended, Iglesias unsurprisingly headed back into retirement after failing to replicate his Deportivo success at the Bernabeu.
#4 Juan Roman Lopez Caro
Sometimes, certain bosses simply seem way out of their depth from the off in big jobs – think David Moyes at Manchester United, for instance.
Juan Roman Lopez Caro’s brief reign at Real Madrid was very similar.
Lopez Caro arrived at the Bernabeu as a coach in the summer of 2001, and was put in charge of their B team, with whom he actually did a decent job.
However, with Real struggling under boss Vanderlei Luxemburgo, the club took a gamble. The Brazilian was fired and Lopez Caro was promoted into his place despite never managing in La Liga before.
The move turned out to be a horrendous mistake.
Lopez Caro’s side continued to struggle in the league. They didn’t lose too many games, but drew nearly as many as they won, and ended the campaign 12 points behind Barcelona in the league table.
Results were even worse elsewhere as Lopez Caro led Los Blancos to a Champions League defeat to Olympiacos in his first game, before they were dumped out by Arsenal in the round of 16.
And elsewhere, his side fell to a damning 6-1 defeat to Real Zaragoza in the first leg of the Copa del Rey semi-finals.
He never really seemed cut out to manage Real Madrid’s Galacticos. And it came as no surprise when he resigned at the end of the season – leaving the far more experienced Fabio Capello to take the helm in 2006-07.
#5 Mariano Garcia Remon
Given his predecessor Jose Antonio Camacho only lasted a handful of games in the Real Madrid hotseat, it seemed unthinkable that anyone could do worse.
However, that’s just what happened when Mariano Garcia Remon was strangely handed the reins when Camacho departed in September 2004.
A former goalkeeper, Remon was somewhat of a Real Madrid legend – winning six La Liga titles with the club in the 1970’s and 1980’s. If anything, that only made his time as boss at the Bernabeu even sadder.
Rushed into the job following Real’s loss to Espanyol, Remon did win his first game in charge. However, it was hardly impressive – a 1-0 win over Osasuna thanks to a late David Beckham strike.
Los Blancos then fell to defeat in their next two league games, while Remon also oversaw poor results in the Champions League, his side drawing with Dynamo Kyiv and Bayer Leverkusen.
Remon did oversee four straight wins from late October 2004 to early November, but his side quickly returned to their previous patchy form.
At that point it was clear that he was way out of his depth. And after a loss to Sevilla, he resigned after just 101 days in charge – making him the boss with the shortest-ever tenure at the Bernabeu.
