Rafa Benitez left Naples on Monday morning for the final time as Napoli manager and he has now arrived in Madrid ahead of being announced as Real boss.
Benitez's reign as Napoli manager came to a disappointing end on Sunday night as his Napoli side were beat 4-2 by Lazio which meant the Eagles took Italy's third and final place in next season's Champions League. Benitez was in charge of the Neapolitans for two seasons and failed to qualify for the Champions League on both occassions. He did get them to the Playoff Round at the start of this season but they were beat by Athletic Bilbao and went into the Europa League instead where they reached the semi-finals before losing to Ukrainian side, Dnipro.
Benitez has history with Real Madrid having played over 200 games for Real Madrid Castilla between 1974 and 1981 before going onto manage the same side between 1993 and 1995. He also had a stint as assistant manager under Vicente del Bosque. Since leaving Real B in 1995, Benitez has worked in three countries and picked up silverware in each. He won two La Liga titles and a UEFA Cup with Valencia, an FA Cup and Champions League with Liverpool, the Europa League with Chelsea and a Coppa Italia with Napoli.
Benitez will now find himself in one of the toughest jobs in football and his tenure will be shortlived unless he wins trophies and continues to do so as Florentino Perez has never been a patient man and won't be shy to swing the axe should Benitez not perform to his high standards.