Rafael Benitez faces the sack at Real Madrid with Zinedine Zidane poised to takeover

REAL MADRID are poised to sack Rafael Benitez after the club's president Florentino Perez held crisis talks with the board today.

 

Rafael Benitez faces the sack as Real Madrid boss

 

Zinedine Zidane looks set to take over as interim coach until the end of the season.

Gary Neville's Valencia held Real Madrid to a 2-2 draw at the Mestalla on Sunday night which leaves them third, four points behind La Liga leaders and city rivals Atletico.

They're two points behind Barcelona in second but the Catalan giants have a game in hand because of their appearance at the FIFA Club World Cup last month.

Reports in Spain say that Real Madrid's hierarchy held an emergency meeting today which will spell the end for Benitez.

 

The former Liverpool boss has been under pressure ever since his arrival at the Bernabeu in the summer, with Zidane touted as the early favourite to replace him as the club's interim boss, with Santi Solari as his assistant.

The 43-year-old Frenchman is a club legend and currently coaches the Real Madrid Castilla team. 

Real Madrid will hold a press conference at 17:30 (CET) and it's expected they will unveil Zidane as Benitez's replacement.

 

He has guided them to the next phase of the Champions League, collecting 16 points from their six group games, to set up a meeting with Roma in the last 16.

But their poor form in the league and a poor relationship with the club's fans could see Benitez booted out of the Bernabeu today.