Real Madrid's humiliating loss in last Saturday's El Clásico has prompted a lot of rumors disclosing that Rafael Benitez's job at the Bernabéu is at risk. With Cristiano Ronaldo's alleged "ultimatum" to Los Blancos president Florentino Perez, the chance of his sacking has greatly increased.
Real dropped an embarrassing 0-4 decision to FC Barcelona in front of their own 80,000 fans at the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium last weekend and much of blame was given to the 55-year-old manager, particularly by the team's three-time Ballon d'Or winner Ronaldo.
Sport reported that the Portugal captain gave Perez "an ultimatum" by saying that "it's Benitez or me", evidently asking for his coach's eviction as the two are reportedly not in good terms right now at the Spanish capital.
The report also noted that "many other Madrid players do not have a great relationship" with the former Inter Milan and Napoli coach, such as James Rodriguez, Denis Cheryshev, and Sergio Ramos.
Spanish football expert Guillem Balague had predicted that Benitez "will probably be sacked" by the Meringues as the team's horrendous performance "has to have consequences" due to the club's affinity for "impatience".
"There is no way whatsoever that this kind of performance - we're not even talking about the result - but the performance, will have no consequences. It has to have consequences. That's how Real Madrid works," Balague said, as per SkySports. "That means of course that Florentino Perez will probably get rid of the manager, and if that's the case, what is next? Yet another manager."
If Perez indeed sacks Benitez, then he would be the 11th manager dismissed by Los Blancos this century.