Zinedine Zidane will return to coach Real Madrid, the club he led to three straight Champions League titles.
Spanish television channel La Sexta said on Monday that Zidane had accepted an offer to replace Santiago Solari.
In the space of less than a week, Madrid twice lost to Barcelona and once to Ajax, being eliminated from the Champions League and the Copa del Rey, and seeing their La Liga title bid all but ended.
Zidane is expected to arrive on a long-term contract, not only for the remainder of the Spanish league this season.
Zidane quit soon after Madrid won the Champions League last season, saying that he and the club needed a change in command to keep succeeding.
Zidane is expected to be in charge of Tuesday’s training session, and his first game back will be on Saturday at the Bernabeu against Celta Vigo. Real trail leaders Barcelona by 12 points with 11 matches left. They are five points behind second-place Atletico Madrid.
Solari led the team to a 4-1 win at Valladolid on Sunday, and was in charge of training on Monday. The former player could remain with the club despite Zidane’s arrival, but in a different position. The former Argentina and Madrid player was the “B” team’s coach before taking over the main squad in October.
Solari led Madrid to 22 wins, eight losses and two draws in all competitions, and helped the team win the Club World Cup in December.
Zidane’s name was a unanimous choice within the club but few thought he would accept returning so soon after deciding to take a break.
He took over in January 2016 and immediately won over the squad with his calm manner and easy-going attitude. In addition to the three Champions League titles, he also led Madrid to the 2017 Spanish league title, the club’s first in five years.
Shortly after Zidane departed, Cristiano Ronaldo announced he was leaving to join Juventus. Real have since endured an up-and-down season which led to the humiliating losses to Barcelona and Ajax at the Bernabeu.
Zidane was replaced by Julen Lopetegui, the former Spain coach fired before the World Cup for taking the Madrid job. He lasted only a few months at the helm.
Solari took over from Lopetegui as an interim coach and eventually was given a full-time job – with a contract until 2021 – after putting the team back on track. Unlike Zidane, though, he struggled to manage the squad and was at odds with some of its key players, including Marcelo and Isco.
Jose Mourinho, fired by Manchester United last year, was another strong candidate to replace Solari after succeeding with Madrid in the early 2010s. Other names mentioned included Jurgen Klopp, Mauricio Pochettino, Joachim Low and Antonio Conte, who was highly touted to take over from the fired Lopetegui. Some even wanted the club to consider former star Raul, who has just started coaching one of Madrid’s youth squads. — Telegraph