Zidane, Ancelotti’s then-assistant, was touted to take over but Rafa Benitez was installed for an ill-fated stint at the start of the 2015-16 season. By January 4, he had been sacked and Zidane ascended to the throne, driving Madrid on to three consecutive Champions League triumphs.
The Frenchman walked away in 2018 only to return less than a year later, after Julen Lopetegui and Santiago Solari had been chewed up and spat out by club president Florentio Perez.
Wary of appointing unknowns, not in the football world, but new faces to Madrid, Perez turned back to comfort and security, plucking the avuncular Ancelotti from Everton and restoring him to the position he would rather have kept six years ago.