Solari, 5th coach who has been promoted from Castilla to Real Madrid first team

After Julen Lopetegui's dismissal, Real Madrid have made Santiago Solari the ninth coach to climb up the ranks from Castilla to the first team.

The last tactician to take that step was Zinedine Zidane, who went on to win three consecutive Champions League titles.

Vicente del Bosque also trained the second team for three seasons (1987-1990), but his jump to Los Blancos took a while and four years later he stayed in the dugout for 11 games.

There are also other cases, such as those of Mariano Garcia Remon, Rafael Benitez and Julen Lopetegui, who got some experience by managing Castilla, to return later on at Real Madrid.

Let's take a look at the five coaches.

Miguel Muñoz

With 10 seasons as a Real Madrid player and 16 in the dugout, he almost retired after being diagnosed with a serious disease. In 1960, he trained Plus Ultra (the Castilla of the time) in the Second Division and returned to the first team to replace Sebastian Fleitas. He lifted the club’s fifth European Cup and from 1960 to 1974 he won, in total, one Intercontinental cup, two European Cups, two LaLiga Santander trophies and two Copa del Rey titles. 

Amancio

Although Alfredo Di Stefano was the one to introduce them to Real Madrid fans, Amancio was the one who discovered the Quinta del Buitre. His team were crowned champions of the Segunda, featuring the best generation of home-grown players in the club’s history. When Di Stefano departed Madrid, Amancio went on to the first team, officially starting his adventure in the 1984/85 season.  However, he didn’t stay for long as Luis Molowny took the reins and the team finished the season lifting the UEFA and League Cup.

López Caro

After being promoted to the Segunda, Caro was upgraded to the first team following Vanderlei Luxemburgo’s in 2005/06. His team finished second in LaLiga Santander, 12 points behind their Catalan rivals, Barcelona.

Zidane

He succeeded Rafael Benitez and in two and a half years managed to transform Real Madrid. Three Champions League trophies, one LaLiga Santander title, two Club World Cups, two European Super Cups and one Supercopa de Espana later he departed the Spanish capital in the summer of 2018.

Solari

After having gone through the youth ranks, this was his third year at Real Madrid’s academy. He has forged his career on the benches at La Fabrica, from where he made the leap to the first team.