Real Madrid could still sack Santiago Solari this week despite win at Valladolid

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Ben Hayward11 March 2019

The lights went out for Santiago Solari and Real Madrid at the Jose Zorrilla and it seemed to be an appropriate metaphor for Los Blancos, with the club’s season in ruins and the Argentine coach facing the sack.

A power cut at Valladolid’s stadium just over an hour before kick-off meant players were forced to get changed in the dark and even warm up on the pitch without any illumination.

But before the game was due to start, the electricity came back on and after a shaky start, some light returned for Madrid and Solari too as Los Blancos secured a 4-1 win which looks to have kept the Argentine in a job. For now at least.

Solari’s first league game in charge had been a 2-0 win at home to Valladolid back in early November and following last week’s Champions League elimination to Ajax, many thought Sunday’s match against the Castile club would be his last.

It still could be, yet Real Madrid still do not seem sure enough about what to do next to dispense with the 42-year-old so soon.

Asked afterwards by Movistar Partidazo whether there would be an announcement on Monday and if Solari would be in charge of the next game, club director Emilio Butragueno said: “He is a great professional. But we are here to talk about the game.”

And when it was put to Solari that it may have been his final match, he said: “I’m not here to make those evaluations. I am planning the next training session.”

In a post-match interview with beIN SPORTS, defender Nacho said: “The relationship right now [with Solari] is complicated, in the sense that things aren’t going well. But Solari is the coach and we are with him to the end.”

That end may not be too far away and in the mixed zone, Karim Benzema was asked if he thought the Argentine would stay until the end of the season. “Let’s hope so,” he said. “But it’s a matter for the club. Of course the dressing room would like him to continue. I want that. The players are with him.”

Real Madrid's win over Valladolid was comfortable in the end.
Getty Images

Benzema scored twice in the second half (once from the penalty spot) to take his tally to the season to 22 goals in all competitions as strikes from Raphael Varane and Luka Modric helped Madrid to a 4-1 win which, as AS amusingly put it, they claimed “without wanting to”.

In the first half, Valladolid missed a penalty, saw two efforts ruled out for offside (one of those as the video assistant referee intervened) and then conceded shortly after they did finally take the lead. The second period was different as the home side made mistakes and Madrid took advantage, scoring three times without reply to seal a much-needed victory as president Florentino Perez watched on.

After the pre-match blackout and slipshod start, the lights eventually came back on for Real and Solari in Valladolid, but the Argentine could still be sacked on Monday.

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