Rafael Benitez has been
sacked as manager of Real Madrid after just seven months in charge, with club
legend Zinedine Zidane replacing him.
Spaniard Benitez, 55,
was relieved of his duties following a meeting of the club's board on Monday.
Real B team coach
Zidane, 43, has been promoted to first-team boss.
The Frenchman, a former
Real player and World Cup winner, said: "I am going to put my heart and
soul into this job so that everything works out well."
Benitez's final game
was Sunday's 2-2 draw with Valencia, which left them third in La Liga, four
points behind leaders Atletico Madrid and two adrift of Barcelona.
Zidane is the 11th
coach to be appointed in Florentino Perez's 12 years as club president.
The length of Zidane's
contract has not been made public, but his first match in charge will be
Saturday's home La Liga game against Deportivo la Coruna.
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