5 short stints of Real Madrid managers

#2 Rafa Benitez

He fielded an ineligible player in the round of 32 tie against Cadiz in the Copa del Rey

Benitez was bought out of his contract at Napoli to replace the outgoing Carlo Ancelotti who had his stay cut short by the ruthless Florentino Perez. On 25 May 2015, the Real Madrid president announced that the club's board had taken "a very difficult decision" to relieve Ancelotti of his duties with immediate effect.

Pérez stated that Ancelotti had won the hearts of both the board and fans, and would always have a place in the club's history because he was the coach that led them to La Décima. "However at this club the demands are huge and we need a new impulse in order to win trophies and be at our best", he added.

Benitez had a bright start to his reign and won his first ten league matches before tasting defeat at the hands of Sevilla on the 11th matchday of the season, which was soon followed by a 0-4 loss at home to eternal rivals Barcelona.

Benitez famously said after leaving the club that he'd wanted to start Casemiro in the match, but was forced to pick James for 'reasons he doesn't want to get into', which made his side too lopsided in attack and easy for the Barcelona forwards to pick apart at will.

He later fielded an ineligible player in the round of 32 tie against Cadiz in the Copa del Rey, which lead to Real being disqualified and Cadiz progressing to the round of 16.

On 4 January 2016, Benítez's contract was terminated following a lot of flack from the Bernabeu faithful, and falling out with senior players in the squad, particularly Ronaldo and Ramos.

Stats: 25 games, 17 wins, 5 draws, and 3 losses (June 2015 - January 2016).