Real Madrid News
Jurgen Klopp among contenders for Real Madrid’s managerial job in future – report
Real Madrid’s managerial position has been a point of contention in recent months. Especially with the club underperforming in La Liga, there has been speculation over the future of Carlo Ancelotti.
The Italian himself has been subjected to a move to the Brazilian national team as a direct replacement for Tite.
Amidst all the speculations, MARCA has come up with an update on Real Madrid’s managerial situation, suggesting that Ancelotti still holds confidence within the camp and is likely to continue, for the time being.
However, some within the camp consider Jurgen Klopp as an ‘eternal candidate’ to replace Ancelotti sometime in the future. There are doubts about whether or not the German is up for the job, but he is one of the top contenders nonetheless.
Real Madrid’s interest in Klopp is hardly surprising as the Spanish giants have always professed a style of football that is direct and dynamic. Known for his iconic Gegenpressing style of football, that is where Klopp comes into the fray.
The German tactician has had immense success during his time at Mainz, Dortmund and Liverpool, building strong and competitive squads at each of these clubs and offering a sense of identity.
Klopp has notably won the UEFA Champions League and the Premier League during his time at Liverpool so far. But his team has faced backlash this season for not performing well in the Premier League. They were also hammered 5-2 by none other than Real Madrid in the Champions League knockout round earlier this week.
Klopp is not the only German coach to be subjected to the Real Madrid job, though, with former Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel also keeping a close eye on Ancelotti’s situation at Santiago Bernabeu.
In less than two weeks, Real Madrid will play hosts to Premier League giants Chelsea in the first leg of the UEFA Champions League quarter-final tie at the Santiago Bernabeu.
It is a repeat of last season’s Champions League quarter-final, with the change being that the first leg was played at Stamford Bridge back then, which Real Madrid won triumphantly.
So, even though they lost the second leg 3-2, Los Merengues progressed on aggregate. At one point in the second leg, Real Madrid were 3-0 down and looked to be crashing out of the tournament.
But, that is not how the match played out as Luka Modric produced a moment of magic, sending in a stunning outside-of-the-boot pass for Rodrygo to guide home. That forced the match into extra time and Karim Benzema then scored to seal an aggregate win for his team.
Mateo Kovacic, a former Real Madrid midfielder, was on the losing side with Chelsea on that fateful night. And the Croatian has now spoken to Sportske Novosti, about that moment of magic from Modric last year as well as the prospect of facing Real Madrid again.
“We were good against Real Madrid last year, especially in Madrid. Then Modrić invented that trivela assist for Rodrygo… We have to be at 120% against them. They immediately punish every minor mistake. Although I repeat, we are also a difficult opponent for them, we showed it,“ Kovacic said.
On the prospect of facing his close friend and national teammate Modric, Kovacic added: “[laughs] how the draw arranges it… It won’t be easy for us because Real Madrid is always the most dangerous team in the Champions League.”
“It’s a strange feeling to have Modric as a rival. There were hard fouls last year because neither he nor I pull back. We will fight for sure. I play on the left, he’s on the right, we will see who wants what. But I wouldn’t like to hurt him,” he added.
Chelsea had met Real Madrid in the UEFA Champions League during the 2020/21 campaign as well and had managed to eliminate them at the semi-final stages on their way to winning the title.
While the Blues have not been in the best of form this season, they have the star power and quality in their ranks to hurt Real Madrid and Carlo Ancelotti’s men must be at their best to get through to the next round.
