How does it
feel to lose a game in your comfortable home? Real Madrid fans can attempt to give answers
to the speculations in the air. Who will be the first to carry an axe on the
coach? Revolution is in the air at Real
Madrid after their Champions League empire was razed to the ground with an
astounding 4-1 loss at home to Ajax Amsterdam on Tuesday. The changes will
involve a huge clear out of players as well as a change of manager. Coach
Santiago Solari may have a contract until 2021 but no one expects him to remain
beyond the close of the season after overseeing Tuesday’s catastrophic last-16
second leg defeat. The defeat ended the capital club’s 1, 012day reign as kings
of Europe. It also effectively ended Madrid’s season, after successive defeats
to Barcelona which sent them out of the Copa del Rey and put them 12 points
adrift of Barca in the title race. Madrid are now five points further adrift
than when Solari succeeded Julen Lopetegui in October. Jose Mourinho is already
being touted as the man best suited to lead the transformation of a squad that
has won it all but turned stale. The former Manchester United boss won a La Liga
title with 100 points but left a legacy of division in his three years at
Madrid. The Portuguese is out of work after being sacked by Manchester United
in December. Despite meeting another dire end to his penultimate job with
Chelsea, Madrid-based newspaper, Marca, appears to be beating the drum for his
return. The paper urged president Florentino Perez to bring him back to the
Santiago Bernabeu. “Only one positive conclusion can be extracted from the
wreckage of a dark night: the best coach in the world, Jose Mourinho, has time
to work,” said the newspaper. “Mourinho’s advantage is he is free and is
waiting for the call. Bring him, Florentino bring him now.” Overhauling a squad
with many underperforming players already over the age of 30 or approaching it
and on inflated wages will be a more complicated process for Madrid. Gareth
Bale, who hit the post against Ajax and ended the game hobbling with an ankle
injury, looks to be at the end of his tether in Spain. Isco and Marcelo also
look certain to go after dropping out of the side in recent months. Real,
meanwhile, need a new galvanizing figure to restore their attacking power after
failing to address the loss of Cristiano Ronaldo and the 50 goals he would
routinely score per season. Defender Nacho, however, said he did not feel this
was the end of an era for his team, who until Tuesday had a stranglehold on
Europe’s biggest prize. “I don’t think we have completed our cycle, this squad
is still very good,” he said. “Some will say that we need new players and
others have left but this squad had the ability to fight for trophies. This
season has been a rollercoaster for us. “It was a very tough night but we have
to stay strong. “We have to keep our heads up, learn from our mistakes and not
forget what we have achieved as what we have done will be remembered for a very
long time.’
