MADRID — Real Madrid fired its coach, Rafael Benítez, on Monday and replaced him with Zinedine Zidane, the former French star who most recently has been in charge of the club’s second team.
In dropping Benítez after only half a season, Real Madrid is switching from one of Europe’s most experienced coaches to the largely untested Zidane, who only started coaching Castilla, Real Madrid’s B team, in 2014, after spending a year on the bench as assistant to Madrid’s coach at the time, Carlo Ancelotti.
Considered one of the best attacking midfielders in the history of soccer, Zidane ended his brilliant playing career as one of Real Madrid’s so-called Galácticos, the world stars recruited by Madrid’s longstanding president, Florentino Pérez, for large sums.