Rafa Benitez was appointed Real Madrid's new coach Wednesday, June 3, 2015, with the Spaniard signing a three-year deal at the Santiago Bernabeu.
The appointment brings Benitez's coaching career full circle as he returns to the club where he made his first steps as a youth team coach in the early nineties.
"It is an emotional day because I've returned home," a tearful Benitez said at his official unveiling at the Santiago Bernabeu.
The rotation of the playing resources was injudicious, the positional anomalies of Ronaldo ,Gareth Bale and Toni Kroos were never properly addressed, and the season's end proved there was a wafer-thin lack of the mental and physical intensity at training on a daily basis that set apart Barcelona.
Gareth Bale and Cristiano Ronaldo are set to work under another manager at the Bernabeu after Benitez replaced Carlo Ancelotti.
These are things in which Benitez has real expertise. Not only is his attention to detail legendary, so is what he demands of players.
His finest hour came at Liverpool, where he lifted the Champions League in 2005, with a UEFA Super Cup and FA Cup also following.
Benitez's managerial career
1993-95 Real Madrid B
1995-96 Real Valladolid
1996 Osasuna
1997-99 Extremadura
2000-01 Tenerife
2001-04 Valencia
La Liga ( 2001/02, 2003/04) UEFA Cup (2003/04)
2004-10 Liverpool
UEFA Champions League (2004/05), UEFA Super Cup (2005), FA Cup (2005/06), FA Community Shield (2006)
2010 Inter Milan
Supercoppa Italiana (2010) FIFA Club World Cup (2010)
2012-13 Chelsea
UEFA Europa League (2012/13)
2013-15 Napoli
Coppa Italia (2013/14), Supercoppa Italiana (2014)
