Schalke have sacked Di Matteo.

anyone else watch Juve vs Napoli yesterday eve? Great game. Buffon is a great keeper still.

Benitez is from Madrid, but only RM could think he's a better option than Carlo. RM would quite possibly have won the league if they hadn't had injuries to Ramos and Modric.
92 points and a +80 goal diff to finish 2nd is quite astonishing though.

They finished 2nd on 96 points a few years back too :0

The thing with Madrid (and Spanish football generally) is that the managerial job comes with the political element due to the elected presidents etc. so Perez needs Carlo to fall on his sword as a way of moving beyond not winning anything this year without any of the heat falling on him. Benitez will probably only last two years as well.

Rafa will do well to last a season, nevermind two.

It's not fully his fault. Schalke don't know what they want to be or where they're going; they need a plan and they must stick to it, if they want to see some progress. Whoever is next up, will meet the same fate within a year.

The worst kept secret in football is out, Real Madrid have sacked Carlo Ancelotti.

Nah, everyone knows who Ancelotti is

I see Ancelotti has been sacked and Rafa is most likely to replace him. Absolutely absurd decision in my eyes, but I'm glad Ancelotti is planning to take a year out (please wait until the Bayern job is available!).

Xavi could yet be back in the Champions League, but with PSG, the latest rumours (you can tell it is the beginning of the silly season) has him being loaned from Al Saad to the French club.

Would be strange to see him in a different teams shirt other than Barcelona's.

Yep. Proof if any were needed that they're a very strange football club.

I think that they see the 7-3 v Frankfurt as some sort of perfect match, and that every manager has to reach those heights every single season, since that is not at all possible, we see this sacking culture that is endemic.

This will continue to be the way until the whole ethos of the club changes, and I cannot see that happening any time soon.

So Rafa will come in, last a season or at best two, then get sacked, and this will continue to be their way.

It is such a stupid of nonsensical way to run a club, but as long as they keep spending big money to buy world class players, then they will keep on ticking along, winning the odd major trophy here and there.
1 La Liga title in seven years, says it all really in terms of if this system of theirs works, emphatically it doesn't.

He resigned….

http://www.theguardian.com/football/...agreement-club

As for Real Madrid they're fools replacing Ancelotti with Benitez, they're never going to find this mythical manager that's going to deliver them the league or Champions League every year.

It's crazy how tolerant some clubs (like Liverpool) are of their managers, who are so far removed from Ancelotti's calibre they almost have different professions, and how ruthless Real is. Ancelotti deserved another season based on the CL win last year alone.

The incredible surprise of the season for me is Allegri. I really did not expect him to do well at all, but he surpassed all possible expectations with an ageing squad.

I think, now it's more so to be loved as much as Barcelona. Back when they signed, Figo, Zidane and Ronaldo they were the team that was loved around the world but then that team aged and Ronaldinho along with a young Messi started to shine for Barca and it became more of level playing field in terms of superstars. Pep's Barcelona has then just smashed Real Madrid in terms of playing attractive football and winning trophies and even today the new trio up front for Barca are outdoing Real's front three.

Rafa is not the man to bring if they want to outdo Barca in playing attractive football and winning trophies. I feel sorry for Ancelotti, before the turn of the year, Real were playing superb football, their 1st half performance at Anfield was one of the most complete perfomances by a visiting side in the Champions League, if they hadn't taken the foot of the pedal, they could have easily scored a couple more.

Going back to my first point, if they hadn't got rid of Del Bosque and Makalele they'd have won La Decima years ago. Florentino Perez is an idiot!!

Absolutely agree about Makelele. One of those key players who should never have been sold.

People love Barcelona not only because they have great players but a philosophy about how to play football and build teams etc. that is conducive to a brand of football that is uniquely theirs. It's a club with an identity. It's hard to see what Real's identity is beyond just spending money on superstars and having internal disruption. Instead of having a dictatorial figure like Perez changing things on a whim, they need to work out what the footballing philosophy of the club is and identify managers and players that will create it. Wouldn't hurt to bring through some young players to appeal to the crowd as well. Outside of Iker, where are the Xavis, Iniestas and Piques of Real Madrid?

What will actually happen is that Rafa will get a year or two, maybe win a league title and be shuffled on out in acrimony for the next man to come along. Each new pphase under Perez usually sees some big signings but outside of De Gea, I'm not sure who would come in. The squad could do with a bit of rebalancing though. Some more steel in midfield is perhaps required and maybe a winger with Ronaldo becoming a pure striker.

Agree completely that Barca as a brand has an identitiy whereas Real Madrid are lacking in that aspect. I was watching Spanish Gold on SKy a couple of days back and they showed the Real v Valencia game, the one where Zidane does those 2 pieces of exceptional skill and assists none other than Javier Portillo. What happened to him? IIRC at that time he had broken many of Raul's records at youth level yet I can't even remembering him having an extended first team run. Contrast that to a game under Tito Vilanova, after all 3 substitutions had been made, all 11 players on the field had come through La Masia - quite amazing!!

Real don't pride themselves on their youth academy though. They are the Galacticos - it's a different identity to Barcelona but an identity nonetheless. Their majestic white kit is a symbol of greatness - the greatest players in the world. I have always preferred Real to Barca and I very much think they have an identity.

Zidane is an absolute legend there, so I don't know why people think he's not. I remember when there was talk about Ancelotti bringing in Cannavaro in some capacity to Real, the fans were outraged and many said he would never come close to the club because of some derogatory comments he made about Zidane.

The Galacticos isn't really an identity of Real Madrid, it's more a Perez thing. After the initial purchases of Figo, Zidane, Ronaldo and Beckham there weren't that many big signings until 09/10 when Ronaldo, Kaka, Benzema and Alonso came in.

I'm not sure Zidane is a big legend at Real, don't get me wrong he's one of the greatest players of all time, but he only won 2 trophies at Real IIRC and even he was being booed during his time there. What did Cannavaro say about Zidane?

Vamos Sevilla tonight! I love watching them.

Perez is an odd character. He's totally obsessed with the marketing and stars over squad building but is there also a sense that he's just desperate to recreate the Madrid of his childhood with Di Stefano, Puskás etc.? He's managed to change the election rules for the Real presidency so that only those who can stump up a repost of around €100 million can run, which means there's hardly anyone who can oppose him.

Boom! Dnipro tear a huge hole in Sevilla's defence 1-0.

Deserved equaliser by Krychowiak

Bacca puts Sevilla in command 2-1; that's two goals in 3 minutes for Sevilla.

Dnipro hit back with a fine free kick. This is a good contest, not the one sided game the commentators seem to think it should be.