Real Madrid considering Mauricio Pochettino and Jose Mourinho again with Santiago Solari feeling the heat

Feeling the heat: Solari could be the second Real manager to lose his job this season if Barca win again
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Ben Hayward2 March 2019

Santiago Solari is a man under pressure. The Argentine looked like a broken man after Real Madrid's 3-0 loss to Barcelona on Wednesday night in the Copa del Rey. His side had played well, but the result was the same as it had been in Camp Nou last October. Humiliation.

The 5-1 loss spelled the end for previous coach Julen Lopetegui and another Clasico defeat in La Liga on Saturday would likely condemn Solari to a similar fate. Already, in the aftermath of Wednesday's cup exit, rumours of a coaching change in the summer have escalated.

Former Real Madrid president Ramon Calderon stoked the flames on Twitter straight after the game when he wrote: "I have the feeling, and something more, that next season Jose Mourinho will sit on the bench at Real Madrid."

Mourinho, still at Manchester United at the time, was considered by Real president Florentino Perez when Lopetegui was sacked in October and the Portuguese has stayed in the thoughts of the club chief ever since his departure from the Spanish side after three seasons in 2013.

Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino, the top target last summer when Zinedine Zidane left Real, is another name linked again in the Madrid media ahead of Saturday's Clasico clash which Solari surely cannot afford to lose.

Madrid are nine points behind Barca in La Liga and only a win will give Los Blancos any chance of claiming the title, albeit still only a slim one, at the end of May. There is also pride to play for and history, too: a Barca victory would see the Catalans ahead in total wins in the famous fixture for the first time since 1932.

A second successive humiliation against Real's fiercest rivals, however positive the performance, would be hard to swallow for Perez and also a severe blow ahead of Tuesday night's Champions League last 16 second-leg match at home to Ajax.

Despite difficulties during his tenure, Mourinho is still admired at Real Madrid.
PA

Once again, Madrid's season seems to be riding on the continental competition. But with Cristiano Ronaldo no longer around and no replacement brought in, Solari is having to make do with what he has and it may not be enough. Fairly or not, he is playing for his job and his distressed demeanour after Wednesday's defeat showed that he knows the score.

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