Carlo Ancelotti's Real Madrid has lost three of the last five games.
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After another defeat, this time against Liverpool at Anfield, Real Madrid has reportedly asked its former coach and current club ambassador Santiago Solari to prepare himself to be ready to take charge of first team affairs should the club decide to act and dismiss coach Carlo Ancelotti before the end of the season.
The news comes as Ancelotti oversaw a third defeat in five games in all competitions as Real Madrid fell to a third defeat in the first five games of the Champions League group stage for the first time in history.
"They tell me from inside the club that, since a few weeks ago, they've told Solari to be prepared, which is a message which arrives to the coach and it annoys Ancelotti," Roberto Morales told [El Partidazo on Cadena COPE](https://www.cope.es/programas/el-partidazo-de-cope/noticias/roberto-morales-explica-reaccion-ancelotti-ultimos-partidos-real-madrid-solari-esta-avisado-20241128_3053974.html). "I don't know where it comes from, but I know that I had a coffee with someone important and he told me that Solari has been warned."
Ancelotti led the team to a La Liga and Champions League double in 2023/24, but has struggled to adapt the team to the arrival of Kylian Mbappé or the retirement of Toni Kroos in midfield. The result has been that while Real Madrid remain second in La Liga, they are 24th in the Champions League table.
Solari has coached at the club at several levels, right through from the under 19s team through to the B team, Castilla, and the first team. In 2018/19, he was called upon after Julen Lopetegui was dismissed in October, and Solari took control of the first team for the remaining 32 matches before Zinedine Zidane returned to the club.
Read More: [Four Options For Real Madrid After Vinícius Júnior’s Injury](http://www.forbes.com/sites/samleveridge/2024/11/25/four-options-for-real-madrid-after-vincius-jniors-injury/)
Solari won 22 of his 32 games in charge, correcting the course of a tricky season to secure a third-place finish, having taken over with the side in ninth. He also guided the team to success in the Club World Cup and won his only piece of silverware as a coach.
In other cup competitions, results were less impressive. The 4-1 home defeat to Ajax in the Champions League last 16 was one of only two times that the team have exited the competition at that stage since 2010, while the Copa del Rey semi-final defeat to Barcelona was also painful for Madridistas.
However, one of his real legacies has been the involvement of Vinícius Júnior. The Brazilian initially joined Solari's Castilla side when he arrived in the summer of 2018, and it was Solari who gave him his first start in a Real Madrid shirt in his first game as coach, with Vini only having played 12 minutes under Lopetegui.
### Who could replace Carlo Ancelotti long-term?
Much like in 2018/19, Solari's appointment would not be a long-term solution. The Argentine would simply take over the leadership of the team until the end of the current season, in the summer of 2025.
The expectation is that Real Madrid look to appoint a new coach on a long-term contract in the summer, and the leading candidate for that continues to be current Bayer Leverkusen boss Xabi Alonso.
The Spaniard played for Real Madrid during an illustrious career and has enjoyed great success with Leverkusen, winning the Bundesliga and DFB Pokal last season in his first full season in charge.
Alonso is unlikely to depart his current club in Germany ahead of the summer, especially taking into account that his current contract is set to run to the summer of 2026, and so Solari could be an interim appointment until he becomes available.