Zinedine Zidane is no longer an option for Real Madrid in case Carlo Ancelotti is dismissed, as Florentino Pérez has reportedly already decided on an interim coach in the event of a managerial change.
With a year and a half to go before the 2026 World Cup and Didier Deschamps’ scheduled departure from his role as head coach of the French national team, Zidane will not be returning to the Real Madrid bench this season. A departure for Ancelotti is not on the agenda at the offices of the Casa Blanca, despite the genuine sporting crisis faced by the Merengues, who were humiliated 4-0 at the Bernabéu in the last Clasico against Barcelona and suffered a second defeat in the Champions League, losing 3-1 to AC Milan on Tuesday.
According to Barcelona-based media outlet Mundo Deportivo, “Zizou” has no intention of returning to Real even if offered the challenge. A three-time Champions League winner as head coach (2016, 2017, and 2018), the former Galactico from the 2000s had left his position only to return nine months later, in March 2019, following the Julen Lopetegui debacle and the unremarkable interim period of Santiago Solari. Under Zidane, Real captured the La Liga title in 2020 during the Covid pandemic but has not reached the Champions League final since.
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While President Florentino Pérez does not plan to change coaches mid-season, he has reportedly decided on the potential interim coach who would take over for the remainder of the season (before the likely arrival of Xabi Alonso in the next summer transfer window). According to Okdiario, it is indeed Solari who is set to resume his place on the Real bench to finish the season in charge of Kylian Mbappé, Vinicius, and Jude Bellingham, three Madrid stars who are currently unable to play together.
Former coach of Castilla (2016-2018) and then the first team in 2019, Solari is now one of the leaders at Real. He was appointed head of the club’s training center in 2022, before being promoted to director of football in December 2023. Florentino Pérez holds Solari’s work in high regard. And Solari may well be content with this second interim spell at the Madrid helm ahead of the new chapter to be written by Xabi Alonso.
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