By Isaias Hastenreiter

The Spanish soccer league La Liga has kicked off its 2015-2016 season with Barcelona sitting atop of the standings with a five point lead on rival, Real Madrid. This is very unusual, especially since Real Madrid is known for their authority when it comes to La Liga, having 32 titles all time, far ahead any other club. So, how is it that Real Madrid is in third place?

Like many other instances, the reason why this soccer team hasn’t been playing like they used to is because of the manager. Rafa Benitez, Real Madrid’s manager is having a rough season. Early this December, Real Madrid probably did the worst thing that any soccer club can do; get disqualified. The disqualification was due to Rafa Benitez playing a suspended player, Denis Cheryshev in a match. If that wasn’t bad enough, Real Madrid also lost at home to rival Barcelona 4-0. It’s difficult to decide which loss is greater, losing by a landslide to a rival team at home, or being kicked out of a tournament over a stupid mistake. All in all, Real Madrid isn’t the dominant force that they used to be back in 2013, where there was a different manager.

If Real Madrid wants to relive the glory days, the first step is to get a new manager. Rafa Benitez, although being the only manager in history to have won the UEFA Cup, UEFA Champions League, and FIFA Club World Cup, certainly hasn’t made big success with the Capital team. You just don’t see Real Madrid on their A game anymore. The midfield can get choppy, the offense has been “unlucky” too many times, and the defense, although being world class from a talent standpoint, can let in the simplest of goals. Keep in mind that the starting lineup has been the same for the most part since 2013, where Real Madrid won the UEFA Champions League. But sadly, the team’s soccer has changed and not for the better.

Under the management of Rafa Benitez, Real Madrid’s soccer has plummeted in terms of success. To make matters worse, Rafa Benitez’s relationship with main striker Cristiano Ronaldo has taken a blow as of yesterday, when Rafa Benitez said “he [should] undergo a biometric study in an attempt to improve his strike-rate from dead balls” via Bleacher Report. Although being one the best free kickers of all time (according to Bleacher Report’s Ranking the 16 Greatest Free-Kick Takers of All Time) Cristiano Ronaldo hasn’t scored off a free kick in 6 months, but instead of taking Rafa Benitez’s comment in a positive manner, Ronaldo was irritated. This situation was a microcosm of the problem with Benitez as of late. Despite good intentions, he has created more problems than he has solved. The best move Real Madrid can do right now is by putting Zinedine Zidane to manage Real Madrid. Zidane played for the team for six years, was an assistant coach for two years (2013-2014), and recently managed Real Madrid Castilla, Real Madrid’s reserve team. The 43 year old recently told Mailonline that he was “ready to take on the great Real challenge.” If Rafa Benitez does not show how good of a manager he is, Real Madrid will have to give the axe to him.