Rafa Benitez favourite for Real Madrid job
Liverpool's loss at Lille in the Europa League has added to the pressure on manager Rafa Benitez – and bookmaker Paddy Power has cut the odds from 10/1 to 13/2 on him being the next top-flight manager to leave his post.
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The Liverpool boss is now odds-on at 8/11 to no longer be in charge of the team at the start of next season – with plenty of punters thinking he will move to Real Madrid.
The Spanish giants crashed out in the Champions League last 16 for the sixth year in a row, despite assembling the most expensive squad in football history.
Few pundits expect coach Manuel Pellegrini to remain at the Bernabeu next season and Benitez is the current favourite to permanently replace him at 7/4 – closely followed by the special one, Jose Mourinho, at 3/1.
Premier League Sack Race
7/4 Avram Grant (Portsmouth)
10/3 Gianfranco Zola (West Ham)
11/2 Steve Bruce (Sunderland)
13/2 Rafa Benitez (Liverpool)
11/1 Roberto Martinez (Wigan)
14/1 Brian Laws (Burnley)
16/1 Phil Brown (Hull)
22/1 Roberto Mancini (Man City)
25/1 Sam Allardyce (Blackburn)
33/1 Mick McCarthy (Wolves)
40/1 Owen Coyle (Bolton)
Will Rafa Benitez still be Liverpool manager next season?
Evens Yes
8/11 No
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Next permanent Real Madrid manager
7/4 Rafa Benitez
3/1 Jose Mourinho
8/1 Vicente del Bosque
8/1 Arsene Wenger
12/1 Luis Aragones
12/1 Guus Hiddink
14/1 Marcello Lippi
16/1 Unai Emery
22/1 Raul
28/1 Sven-Göran Eriksson
33/1 Carlo Ancelotti
33/1 Slaven Bilic
40/1 Bernd Schuster
40/1 Marco van Basten
40/1 Frank Rijkaard
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Gary Parkinson is a freelance writer, editor, trainer, muso, singer, actor and coach. He spent 14 years at FourFourTwo as the Global Digital Editor and continues to regularly contribute to the magazine and website, including major features on Euro 96, Subbuteo, Robert Maxwell and the inside story of Liverpool's 1990 title win. He is also a Bolton Wanderers fan.
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