Change afoot in the Spanish capital? The leading candidates to replace Ancelotti at Real Madrid

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Out of the UCL 

©IMAGO

Carlo Ancelotti was in a somber mood on Wednesday night, following his team’s defeat to Arsenal in the Champions League quarter-finals. Despite high hopes that they could overturn a three-goal deficit, Real Madrid ultimately fell victim to a superb performance from the North London club and ultimately bowed out of the European competition to a startling aggregate score of 5-1. And the Italian tactician was well aware of the potential consequences of such a performance and humbling result. 

When asked about the prospect of him being relieved of his duties as Real Madrid head coach, Ancelotti told the media: “It could be this year, next year when my contract runs out…There’s no problem about it. But when I am done here, I will be grateful to this club. It could be tomorrow, in one year, or in 10 years, but I will be grateful to this club. And that’s it. Full stop.” He then added: “We have done very well in the last seasons but this year we have had to suffer. Things haven’t gone as expected but in sport it happens because there are no unbeatable teams.” 

Carlo Ancelotti’s record at Real Madrid this season 

Despite winning the Champions League and LaLiga titles last season, Madrid have looked far from their best this time around. Los Blancos looked far from stellar in the group stages of the Champions League, losing to Lille, AC Milan and Liverpool, as well as squeezing past city rivals Atlético Madrid on penalties in the previous knock-out round. As such, the defeat to Arsenal was far from surprising, even if it will still sting fans of the club. Especially when we compare their struggles around the continent to their form in domestic competitions. 

Indeed, inconsistency has cost Madrid dearly in the league campaign, where Ancelotti’s side have spent just eight of the 31 match days to date in first place. Whether it be the recent 2-1 defeat to Valencia or the defeats to Betis, Espanyol and Athletic before that, the capital club have looked far from the unbeatable machine that won the league title by a comfortable 10-point margin last season. And as we can see in the graph above, when we factor in all of the club’s competitions this season, Ancelotti’s average as Madrid manager stands at just 2.11. That, most notably is a 16% drop on last season’s average and the Italian manager’s worst ever record in the six seasons he’s overseen the Spanish giants. As such, it would come as no great surprise if Madrid did look elsewhere for a new manager ahead of next season. So who are the leading candidates?

The leading candidates to replace Ancelotti at Real Madrid 

Should Ancelotti depart Madrid in the coming months, there’s only one man that seems to be leading the race to replace him at the Santiago Bernabéu: Xabi Alonso. The former Madrid midfielder has made waves in the Bundesliga with Bayer Leverkusen, after beating Bayern Munich to the league title in his second season at the BayArena club. However, his current season has been one of torment and frustration for the young Spaniard, with his side crashing out of the German Cup to third-division opponents and struggling to keep up with Bayern, who not only knocked them out of the Champions League in the previous round but also maintain a health lead over them in the Bundesliga table. As such, Alonso may decide to jump ship at Leverkusen and try his luck in Madrid if the offer should finally arrive. 

Interestingly enough, another name has quickly arisen to rival Alonso as a potential successor to Ancelotti at Madrid. According to reports in Spain, former Borussia Dortmund and Liverpool manager Jürgen Klopp could be tempted to pick up the reins in the Spanish capital. Klopp is currently working for Red Bull as the club’s “Global Sports Director”, but the aforementioned reports suggest that the 57-year-old tactician would jump at the opportunity to get back into top-level management if presented with the right role. And few jobs carry as much temptation as that at Madrid. 

Another potential candidate could be Andoni Iraola. The 42-year-old manager has been speculatively linked with a move to Madrid, following the remarkable job that he’s done at Bournemouth. In his first season at the club, he led the Cherries to twelfth place but currently has the club riding high in eighth place this season. In many ways Iraola is considered one of the most sought-after tacticians in English football and having spent the vast majority of his playing career in Spain as a right-back for Athletic Bilbao, before making his managerial debut at Rayo Vallecano, Madrid and their fans will certainly know all about Iraola and his talents. Whether or not he has the personality and profile to match Los Blancos is another matter entirely. 

One such name that certainly does rival Madrid for sheer star quality is none other than Zinédine Zidane. The French manager has been on what can only be described as a sabbatical since leaving the Spanish giants in 2021 and has so far shown little interest in returning to the frantic world of management. However, if Ancelotti does step down in the coming months, there’s no way of saying for certain if the 52-year-old coach couldn’t be tempted to return to Madrid to work towards winning his fourth Champions League title as manager of the club.