Real Madrid: Ranking the three candidates to replace Zinedine Zidane

2. Max Allegri

Joachim Low is a pretty obvious No. 3, but it’s REALLY tough to split between Max Allegri and Raul. So don’t think that Allegri is an afterthought in second. He would be a strong hire for Real Madrid.

Madridistas are no doubt familiar with the coaching job he did at Juventus. Allegri had Juve firing on all cylinders, and he even defeated Real in the Champions League semifinals with Alvaro Morata as one of his strikers before Los Blancos went on their three-peat run. And then Real met Allegri in the Champions League Final in 2016-17.

There’s no doubt that Madridistas should respect Allegri a great deal. He does a good job of building a structured defense and a coherent playing style that is adhered to by all players. It would be fun watching the young generation in Madrid learn from Allegri, especially the midfielders. He did wonders for the world-class midfielders in Turin, while also getting the most out of attackers young and old like Morata and Mario Mandzukic.

Martin Odegaard, for example, could benefit greatly from having Allegri and some new tactical ideas in the dugout. Allegri is a proven commodity who knows what it takes to make it to the Champions League Final. But if Real hire him, they can’t make the same mistake the Juventus brass made; they need to trust and listen to Allegri in the summer markets.