#5 Luis Carniglia
Luis Carniglia’s spell in charge of Los Blancos is the perfect blueprint of a career of a Real Madrid manager.
A star-studded team made of the best players in the world? Check.
A trophy-laden stint in a short-lived spell in charge of the club? Check.
Sacked after winning a trophy? Check.
The Argentine took over Real Madrid in June 1957 – a side that had the magic of reigning Ballon d’Or champ, Alfredo di Stefano, along with Raymond Kopa and the player with most European Cup titles, Gento. Naturally, he won La Liga and the European Cup in his first ever season, capping it off with a 3-2 win over AC Milan.
Along came Santiago Bernabeu... the most important person in Real Madrid’s history foisted a very overweight Ferenc Puskas on Carniglia, which eventually resulted in the Madrid boss’ downfall. Despite whipping Puskas into shape, Carniglia never fully trusted the Hungarian, leaving him out of the European Cup final in 1959. Real Madrid won the final 2-0, with Carniglia lifting his second European Cup in as many years, and having an unheard of win percentage of 69.13% at the time.
His reward? Sacked. (He did lose out on La Liga that year to Barcelona, after all.)
