The football world buzzed yesterday with schadenfreude over the demise of Real Madrid. The worst UEFA Champions League showing in the club’s illustrious history saw the holders bounced from the tournament at the hands of Ajax.
With Real eliminated from both the UCL and Copa Del Rey in the same week, plus the impossible math for them to potentially get back into the La Liga title race, their season is now over, for all practical purposes and intents.
Given the arrogance and attitude displayed by team Captain Sergio Ramos lately, and team generally, at least traditionally, hey, this couldn’t happen to a nicer club.
Attitude, arrogance & complacency: How it's all caught up to Real Madrid #Halamadrid https://t.co/e955I8m9R4
— Tribal Football (@tribalfootball) March 6, 2019
A devastation like this means a total rebuild, and the man to lead it could be Jose Mourinho. Yes, the Bernabeu may be going back to the future by rehiring a manager who once led them to glory.
“I have no doubt Mourinho is the first option for the president,” Former Real Madrid president Ramon Calderon said.
“He’s been called in the last weeks.”
Calderon says Mourinho would return with a healthy transfer budget, adding that Mourinho is “the only manager that Florentino Perez respects.”
This narrative conforms to comments Mourinho recently made about his future.
“In this short phase of my life, which I hope is only until June, I’m more concerned about what others would do than what I would do,” said the controversial tactician recently had an opportunity to address his managerial future while working as a studio analyst for DAZN España during their coverage of the Carabao Cup.
It looks like the Portugese has the inside track, especially with interim manager Santiago Solari now having blown his opportunity. There seems to be almost no chance that Solari keeps the gig, meaning Madrid will be on their third manager in less than a year this summer.
Solari is also in the dark about his own future telling ESPN: “Who knows [what the future holds]. If we knew the future we would all play the lottery.
“It was a tough week for us. Three important games in a row and it didn’t turn out the way we wanted. Sometimes football is that way. I don’t have much more to say.”
“We need to dedicate ourselves to work, and not give up. In this tough year, which we knew may be tough and it is proving to be tough, but here we are playing with our hearts.”
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net, which is partnered with News Now. Banks, a former writer for NBC Chicago.com and Chicago Tribune.com, regularly appears as a guest pundit on WGN CLTV and co-hosts the “Let’s Get Weird, Sports” podcast on SB Nation.
He also contributes sociopolitical essays to Chicago Now. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram. The content of his cat’s Instagram account is unquestionably superior to his.