It was the decision everyone knew was coming. 

“The board has taken a very difficult decision,” said Real Madrid president Florentino Perez, “to end our contractual agreement with Rafa Benitez—a great professional and a magnificent person. I would like to thank him for his dedication during these past few months.”

Little more than six months earlier, Perez had uttered almost the identical words at an almost identical occasion to announce the sacking of Carlo Ancelotti. But that rendition of this familiar show had differed in one respect: the president had taken questions, and it hadn’t gone well. 

When asked what Ancelotti had specifically done wrong, Perez let go of three words that on their own said much about the club and about him. “I don’t know,” he replied, his words stirring a savage reaction. AS called it “Florentino’s latest wheeze.” Marca labelled Perez “the Real king of musical chairs.”

Unsurprisingly, then, Perez wasn’t taking questions this time. This time, it was Benitez out and Zinedine Zidane in, and that’s all that would be said—Benitez reduced to a distant memory with all of two lines.

Just like that. Gone. 

Just 24 days and three games have passed since, but already Benitez is essentially forgotten at Real Madrid. Amid the euphoria of Zidane‘s appointment, the shift in mood at the club has been so immense that pre-January 4—the day of the decision—now feels like a bygone era.  

“We identify more with Zidane,” said Cristiano Ronaldo. “Maybe we understand better what Zidane wants from us,” said Isco. “We are all aware that a breather was needed,” said Keylor Navas. “Ya, it’s true that we’re happy,” said Marcelo. “The change of coach has done us the world of good,” concluded Sergio Ramos. Luka Modric agreed.

Of course, Benitez is hardly the first manager the depart the Santiago Bernabeu in such fashion; numerous men before him have been chased out too, the ill-feelings between parties very real. And yet, on the surface, Benitez’s exit looks particularly damaging on a personal level. 

Presiding over the team for just 25 games, the Madrileno has become the club’s shortest-serving boss for a decade. At a club like Real Madrid, it’s not as though he’s without competition in that respect, and the universal relief for his departure has been striking—so extreme as to be damning. 

So where does this leave him? What’s next?

Can he and his career recover from here?

The answer is yes, but there are complications, too. 

For Benitez, this had been his dream job at his dream club, the position he’d craved for decades since joining Madrid’s coaching staff in the 1980s. His appointment back in June also represented his arrival at the game’s pinnacle. The effect of falling away from that so quickly shouldn’t be underestimated; the sapping of conviction and belief is very possible, the psychological impact potentially huge. 

And yet, precedents here are encouraging. 

Since moving on from Madrid, Manuel Pellegrini and Jose Mourinho have both lifted league titles elsewhere. As for Ancelotti, he’s set to take over at Bayern Munich next season, his reputation completely untouched by his sacking at the Bernabeu. 

Admittedly, all three men left in very different circumstances to Benitez, but they do serve as proof that careers don’t have to spiral after leaving Chamartin. That there is life after Real Madrid. 

Getting out might even be a positive. 

When the dust settles and Benitez begins looking for his next job, it’s very possible that part of his reputation will be unaffected by his ill-fated stint in the Spanish capital. Around Europe, there will be a certain recognition that his fit at the Bernabeu was awful from the beginning and that he was never the man for Madrid for countless reasons, primarily because Madrid didn’t want him in the first place. 

For Perez, options had been scarce last summer. He’d just discarded Ancelotti. Mourinho had left before him. Pep Guardiola would never come. Jurgen Klopp had his eyes on England. The idea of Arsene Wenger had long passed. Zidane was deemed not-yet ready.

The choice was Benitez or a gamble. Potential suitors will know that, and they’ll also know Benitez was fighting an unwinnable war. 

When the former Napoli boss arrived at Madrid, he encountered a dressing room that remained fiercely loyal to his predecessor. To the players, Ancelotti had been a cool dad; Benitez was the disciplinarian they didn’t want.  

Thus, he was immediately without support, and like most other managers at the Bernabeu, his authority was undermined, too. He, like Ancelotti before him, faced the political pressure to do it the Perez way—all-out attack, no thought for balance, the BBC, Danilo over Dani Carvajal, the shirt-sellers—completely stripping Benitez of his strengths and making his management reliant on his obvious weakness: player and media relations. 

He was never going to win. The problems he encountered were not so much created by him as they were for him, the major mistake in the whole saga being Madrid’s when they appointed the wrong man and effectively asked a prison warden to be a babysitter. 

When Benitez is ready to return to management, that much will be acknowledged and understood. His Madrid stint won’t be viewed as proof that he can’t manage, but rather a case in which he was given unmanageable circumstances. In more favourable ones, he can still work.

As such, recovery is entirely possible for the 55-year-old. New positions will almost certainly present themselves to him. 

Perhaps the biggest question is where, then, but this is where it gets a little tricky. 

Having stopped in at Valencia, Liverpool, Inter Milan, Chelsea, Napoli and Real Madrid, Benitez isn’t likely to want to pitch up at West Bromwich Albion or Granada from here. High-profile positions will still be the priority for the Spaniard, but might his options be running short? 

Despite the aforementioned possibility for Benitez’s reputation to avoid severe damage in the wake of his Real Madrid turmoil, other challenges facing him and other doubts hanging over him may hamper his ability to land another desirable position. 

Almost a decade on from Benitez’s peak years to date, football has raced into a new era centred around two things that are problematic for the Madrileno: player power and style. 

Now more than ever before, star players hold significant influence in the decision-making processes of clubs. With their immense wages and marketability, coupled with their ease of mobility and the help of influential agents, players now dominate the landscape. It’s they who steer the game; managers and directors react. 

Consequently, it’s possible that it’s never been more difficult than it is now for managers like Benitez to thrive. As an authoritarian, as a man who values discipline and organisation above all else, Benitez and his disposition don’t neatly align with a player-dominated environment. You could argue that to navigate such a world at top clubs, the increasingly necessary traits are now charisma, diplomacy and a knack for appealing to both the competitor and ego within stars. 

That’s not Benitez.

And then there’s style. 

At the Bernabeu, Rafa’s Real Madrid were nowhere near as defensive as many liked to suggest, but a conflict in ideology did exist.

Under Ancelotti, Madrid had been instinctive and only vaguely tactical. To that, Benitez attempted to add a degree of control, wanting his side to carefully manage games and not just play them. The intention was understandable, but at a club reluctant to embrace it, the result was a side that took on a muddled identity, caught at an awkward halfway point between instinct and instruction. 

The thing is, though, such a challenge isn’t limited to Real Madrid. The move away from philosophies built on organisation and defensive principles has been evident all over Europe, as explained neatly by Miguel Delaney for Eurosport:

When Benitez was at the absolute peak of his career, and regularly reaching the [UEFA] Champions League semi-finals between 2004 and 2008, the average number of goals per game was 2.59. The average number of goals scored by semi-finalists was 19.31. This lower-scoring, more minimalist era better suited the ‘controlled’ football of Benitez and Mourinho. Since then, things have changed.

In the last three seasons, the average number of goals per game in the Champions League has been 2.91 – a huge leap. The average number of goals scored by semi-finalists, meanwhile, has been 26.

A huge driver in that shift has been Guardiola‘s Barcelona. In a post-2009 world, there’s been a greater fascination with style, with the game’s follow-the-leader nature heightening the demand to attack. Players want it. Fans want it. Owners want it. Sponsors want it. 

Being secure now doesn’t cut it. The game is stylistically trending away from Benitez’s strengths, limiting his options among the elite. 

In England, a reunion with Liverpool or Chelsea is unlikely, while both Manchester clubs and Arsenal wouldn’t entertain the idea. In Italy, Inter Milan would never have Benitez back, while his former club Napoli currently sit atop Serie A under Maurizio Sarri. In Spain, Barcelona or Atletico Madrid won’t make the call. 

Perhaps Valencia is an option. Or maybe his next opportunity will come in the Premier League’s suddenly-rich middle-class. But the highest-profile jobs may be elusive for Benitez, who’s now in a curious and awkward position.

A month ago, he held the biggest job of all. Now, despite his reputation being largely unchanged, getting back to anything approaching that level looks rather challenging. 

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Having beaten AS Roma on Sunday, Juventus returned to Coppa Italia action against Inter Milan on Wednesday evening, and a comfortable 3-0 victory saw them firmly take control of this semi-final matchup.

The final score served as a good indication of the gulf between the two teams, with the visitors offering little attacking threat and looking woeful in midfield.

What made the result even more remarkable was that while the Nerazzurri fielded a largely first-choice side, Juve were able to rest a number of key players.

Gigi Buffon, Stephan Lichtsteiner, Sami Khedira and Paulo Dybala were all left out of the starting XI, and although coach Massimiliano Allegri was careful to remain balanced, he is certainly happy with the depth of his squad.

“The most important thing is to stay level-headed and keep in mind that we haven’t achieved anything yet,” he told reporters at the post-match press conference. “We have a tough run of fixtures ahead and I know I can swap a few players in and out and still be sure that the quality of our performances won’t drop off.”

Alvaro Morata certainly benefited, with the striker netting twice to break a goal drought which stretched back to October 4 and delivering a performance that bodes well for the rest of the campaign. His importance to the side was discussed at length in this previous post, but Kwadwo Asamoah was arguably even more impressive.

Despite making only his third start of the season, the versatile left-footer slotted in seamlessly, helping the Bianconeri dominate the central area of the field as they continually overran their opponents.

Defensively solid throughout, Asamoah helped protect the back line impeccably, combining with Patrice Evra to frustrate Adem Ljajic. He was helped by the lack of attacking impetus from Inter’s midfield, where Gary Medel, Felipe Melo and Geoffrey Kondogbia were each better suited to breaking up play rather than venturing forward.

The same cannot be said of Juventus, with both Pogba and Asamoah regularly joining the attack, a smart assist from the latter eventually laying on the third goal as Dybala made a late cameo appearance.

Statistics courtesy of WhoScored.com highlight just how well Asamoah performed overall, recording one tackle, one interception, one clearance and completing 91.9 percent of his 37 pass attempts. That tally included three scoring chances for his team-mates, with the Ghana international also winning two aerial duels.

After making just 10 appearances last term due to a variety of injuries, he finally seems to be back to full fitness and—speaking shortly after the recent win over Udinese—the 27-year-old revealed that he had previously doubted his future.

“There were several moments when I asked myself when I would get back playing again, because, whenever things were looking on the up, there would always be a new setback throwing my progress off course,” Asamoah told Sky Italia (h/t the official Juventus website). “Right now, though, I’m in good shape.”

Having such a high-quality back-up bodes well for the rest of the campaign, giving Juve the option of resting any of their first-choice trio, and Allegri was happy to praise the midfielder for his contribution against Inter.

“Asamoah was brilliant tonight in all aspects of his play,” the coach said at the post-match press conference. “When the team are in great form, every team selection can be difficult and it’s never easy leaving the other guys out of the side. The further we go in the cups though, the more playing time there will be for everyone.”

That will certainly be true, with the likes of Neto, Daniele Rugani and Juan Cuadrado all looking to earn more minutes on the field.

Asamoah will now join that trio, and he has proved that he can be relied upon to deliver whenever he is given a chance.

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Established juggernauts of European football such as Manchester United, Liverpool and Chelsea are reportedly hatching a plan to guarantee their Champions League spots in years to come.

According to Martin Lipton of the Sun, the biggest names in the game are seeking to turn the competition into a “money-spinning cartel” that would ensure their places are secured in the tournament every season, regardless of their domestic performance.

“In turn, it would close the door on clubs who are trying to make the breakthrough,” adds Lipton, who cites surprise Premier League leaders Leicester City as a side who wouldn’t benefit from these potential changes in regulations.

The piece continues, citing a recent meeting which took place involving the European Club Association:

Among the ideas which gained traction at the meeting in Nyon, Switzerland, was for places to be reserved, every year, for those clubs most attractive to broadcasters, whether they qualified or not.

The continued uncertainty in the Prem, likely to be intensified with the new TV deal from next season seeing clubs banking a minimum of £90 million and as much as £120 million, means clubs are increasingly fearful of making the top four.

Discussions saw clubs giving some support, in principle, for the automatic elite to be joined by other qualifiers from a competitive system.

It’s suggested in the piece that recent winners, including the aforementioned English sides, could benefit. Liverpool won the tournament in 2005, while Manchester United (2008) and Chelsea (2012) have been crowned kings of the continent in the last decade.

Aside from English clubs, struggling Italian giants like seven-time winners AC Milan and three-time winners Inter Milan, who have been absent from Champions League in recent seasons, could also benefit.

Here’s a reminder of the winners of the Champions League since the Reds’ famous triumph in Istanbul:

As things stand, the three teams mentioned could struggle to make the top four spots in the Premier League, which are currently occupied by Leicester, Manchester City, Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur.

United and Liverpool—fifth and seventh in the standings, respectively—still have a chance of breaking in, but the Blues, who are down in 13th, are a long way off the pace.

It’s a move which is likely to divide opinion. The top clubs will be delighted if their spot is protected every season and would not have to worry about the financial ramifications of missing out on qualification. Keeping the biggest names in the tournament would be a smart commercial move on the part of the organisers too.

However, it would dilute the competition. Europe’s elite club tournament is the most competitive in world  football and that’s due to teams pushing on the standards year after year, not only in the Champions League proper, but in the pursuit of qualification itself.

After all, the fundamental point of the Champions League is for the finest teams on the continent to test themselves against one another.

Removing that pure competitive element would not only rob the tournament of its cut-throat aura, but filtering down the football pyramid, it would dampen the ambitions of smaller, up-and-coming outfits who already have the odds stacked against them.

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With news of Jerome Boateng being sidelined for most of the second half of this season, Bayern Munich’s hopes of glory in the Bundesliga, DFB-Pokal and Champions League are in some danger.

The German giants have lost their best center-back, and perhaps their best defender overall. And their options in his stead are scarce.

For Bayern to succeed, they’ll need to adapt their approach to playing and winning games. In part, they’ll need to borrow a page from the book of Louis van Gaal during his time at the club: To simply keep the ball and outgun opponents in attack.

It was a tactic that worked for Van Gaal in 2009-10, in which the Bavarians reached the Champions League final in Madrid with a back five of Hans-Jorg Butt, Martin Demichelis, Daniel van Buyten, an inexperienced and out-of-position Holger Badstuber at left-back, and Philipp Lahm on the right as their only defender of considerable class.

It was a bumpy road to the final, and the Bavarians conceded four goals to both Fiorentina and Manchester United in the knockout rounds, but they managed to equal their opponents in both cases and progress on away goals.

Bayern took a similar approach the following year and blew a 3-1 aggregate lead at home to lose to defending champions Inter Milan on away goals. As the saying goes, if you live by the sword, you die by the sword.

Bayern have a better squad now than in 2010 and 2011, however, and there’s genuine reason to believe they can overcome their opponents with enough quality in attack. But for them to do so, they’ll need their X-factor to be at his very best. That is Thomas Muller.

Looking around the Bayern attack, there is abundant class and everyone has his role. Douglas Costa is the primary playmaker, the creative spark on the wing. He demands the ball and can work magic with it, dribbling through defenses and creating scoring opportunities.

Arjen Robben and understudy Kingsley Coman have similar abilities but are perhaps not quite as adept in creating; the Dutchman is more of a scorer, while the teenager is a bit more balanced in both departments but for now has less responsibility in possession than Costa.

And then there’s Robert Lewandowski, the classic No. 9: He’s the focal point of the attack, the scorer of the most goals and hold-up man who challenges the center-backs.

That leaves Muller, the player whose role is so hard to define that even many journalists struggle to truly encapsulate his brilliance. And many defenders just don’t know what to do with him.

True to his namesake, Gerd, Thomas is the kind of player who can produce goals at any time and in any way. He is the X-factor for Bayern as they approach the business end of the campaign.

The best way to describe Muller is that he simply is effective. In an era in which the Bayern attack was defined by Robben and Franck Ribery (“Robbery!” read the headlines), Muller scored and assisted more goals than his more illustrious teammates.

He’s been remarkably consistent, with Transfermarkt recording 141 goals and 113 assists in 331 games for Bayern in all competitions over the course of his career. This season, the figures stand at 21 goals and eight assists in 27 appearances, in what is looking to be a career season for the 26-year-old. He just gets better and better.

Last weekend, Muller didn’t even have a particularly great game, yet he played a decisive role. He tracked down a hopeful long ball and won the penalty that put Bayern ahead. And later, he took an effort that probably would have been saved had Lewandowski not reacted to deflect the ball into the net.

These seem like flukes, yet they happen all the time. Consider how Muller appeared to badly mis-hit a cross from the right wing in September but had the fortune of finding the net as the ball found its way into the top-left corner of the net.

Defenses have long known exactly what Robben would do, and to his credit, the Dutchman has long been so good that he’s rarely been stopped.

With Muller, it’s a different story; one never knows what he’ll do, but one can count on him producing a goal. Sometimes it’s a fluke, sometimes it’s a moment of sheer genius that one may not have thought him capable of. But one way or another, it happens.

Muller is also a player who isn’t fazed by the big stage, and that can be critical towards Bayern‘s title hopes.

Whereas Costa and Coman have never been tested in the latter stages of the Champions League, the German has won the World Cup and Champions League. In the former, his 10 goals have him already drawing close to Miroslav Klose’s career record. And in the latter, not only has he won, but he’s appeared in three finals. He even scored the go-ahead goal in the 2012 final, a match he may have decided had he not been substituted.

With Boateng sidelined, Bayern have a tough task on hand from now until season’s end. Yet they can still win everything. They have a team of world-class players, and among them, an X-factor in Muller.

If anyone is to produce the magic Bayern need to win a treble, he’s their best bet.

@Mr_Bundesliga

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Zlatan Ibrahimovic will reportedly sign a new deal with Paris Saint-Germain to extend his stay beyond the 2015-16 season. His current agreement is set to expire at the end of the campaign.

Continue for updates.

Ibrahimovic Set to Double His Money

Wednesday, Jan. 27

According to Le Parisien (h/t Ed Aarons of the Guardian), the Swede will agree new terms, which would see him double his current salary, meaning he’d be earning a whopping gross monthly wage of €1.5 million (£1.1 million).

Ibrahimovic remains a prominent force at the point of the PSG attack despite his advancing years. Here are some of his standout moments so far from this excellent season:

Indeed, he may be 34, but the Swedish international is as influential as ever. His touch, aerial strength and penchant for the spectacular all remain despite approaching the twilight of his career. Even with all their millions, the French champions would find it very difficult to replace their talisman if he was to depart.

There have been some links with a possible departure for the striker with his contract so close to expiration. In theory, Ibrahimovic would now be permitted to agree terms with another club with a view to a move at the end of the season. Football Italia noted both AC Milan and Inter Milan preserve an interest in their former forward.

However, there are still things for Ibrahimovic to achieve in Paris, most notably Champions League glory. Manager Laurent Blanc seems to have the players in situ to become kings of Europe this season; for the club and Ibrahimovic, neither of which have won the competition before, that’s a major incentive.

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