MADRID: Rafa Benitez was appointed Real Madrid coach on Wednesday, the much-travelled 55-year-old taking on one of the most demanding jobs in club football in which he will be expected to deliver major trophies in short order.

Spaniard Benitez quit Serie A side Napoli last week and returns to his boyhood club to succeed Italian Carlo Ancelotti, sacked after Real failed to either defend their Champions League crown or win the domestic league or Cup.

A former Valencia, Liverpool, Inter Milan and Chelsea manager, Benitez began coaching in Real’s youth academy in 1986 after injury ended his hopes of becoming a professional player.

He is the 10th coach to be appointed by president Florentino Perez during the construction magnate’s two six-year stints at the helm of the world’s richest club by income and appeared close to tears when he was presented to the media at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium.

“It’s an emotional day returning here to my home,” Benitez said. “I have a good technical team behind me and I hope things go well, that we win titles and the team plays well.”

Benitez, who has signed a three-year contract, told a later news conference he was aware he would not be given time to bed in and that, given the quality of the squad, which he called the best he had managed, the team would have to be competitive from the start.

“When you have a roster with such quality you have to attack, to try to score goals, and to win if possible playing attractive football,” he told reporters. “I hope things will go well and that we win many titles.”

Real would be monitoring the transfer market to see if there was room to strengthen the team, he added.

Real said Benitez was the right choice because he understood the values that underpin the club, and what it meant to be part of it.

“He is a product of this house,” the club said in a statement, detailing how Benitez played as a defender in youth teams and “began his coaching career here”.

Ancelotti was dismissed a year after ending 12 years of Champions League failure by leading Real to a record-extending 10th European crown in 2013-14.

“Today we begin a new phase with the full conviction that the arrival of our new coach will strengthen us,” said Real president Perez, introducing Benitez as “a man who breathes football, professionalism and the very ethos of our club”.

“Your name is a guarantee of hard work. We have one of the best coaches in the world.”

After leaving Real in 1995, Benitez graduated to several modest teams in Spain as he developed his coaching philosophy.

He made his name with Valencia, whom he led to two La Liga titles between 2001 and 2004 before leaving for Liverpool, where he won the Champions League in 2005. However, he delivered only the UEFA Super Cup and the FA Cup in 2006 in the five years that followed at Anfield.

“When I arrived at Liverpool I was given three years to be competitive,” Benitez said on winning the Champions League in his first season at Liverpool. “Fortunately we won the Champions in the first year, but here it’s different.”

A nightmare experience followed at Inter Milan where he lasted only six months as Jose Mourinho’s successor and another short-lived unhappy spell at Chelsea followed as he was never accepted by the fans despite winning the Europa League in 2013.

A two-year spell with Italian giants Napoli also came to an unsatisfactory end on Sunday with a 4-2 home defeat to Lazio which ensured they did not qualify for next season’s Champions League.

Many of Real’s stars, including World Player of the Year Cristiano Ronaldo, took to social media to show their appreciation of Ancelotti before and after his dismissal.

However, Benitez is confident that won’t manifest itself into a negative reaction towards him and his technical team.

“It is normal that the players show their warmth to Carlo, who is a great coach and person. I have spoken with him and I hold him in the highest esteem.”

Published in Dawn, June 4th, 2015

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