Real Madrid must right the wrong of hiring Rafa Benitez, but not now

Firing Rafa Benitez one-third of the way through the season would be as idiotic as the decision to hire him to manage Real Madrid in the first place.

In suffering a 4-0 loss to rival Barcelona at the Bernabeu last Saturday, Benitez likely blew the La Liga title. He hasn’t won a domestic league, any league, in a dozen years, so this can hardly come as a surprise.

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But Benitez doesn’t win leagues. He wins cup competitions. At Liverpool, Benitez won the UEFA Champions League and the FA Cup. At Inter Milan, he only lasted half a season but still managed to win a FIFA Club World Cup and an Italian Super Cup. At Napoli, the Spaniard picked up a Coppa Italia and an Italian Super Cup. Even in his lone season with Chelsea, Benitez managed to win the Europa League.

Over a dozen years of managing in England and Italy, Benitez never won a single league title. If a team wants to win its league, Jose Mourinho is the man to call. Not so coincidentally, Mourinho was at the helm the last time Real Madrid hoisted the La Liga trophy back in 2011-12. That lone trophy is Real Madrid’s only addition to the La Liga cabinet over the past seven years, but that still adds up to one more league title than Benitez over that same period of time.

So, why not sack Benitez immediately?

He may not be good at winning the league, but Benitez is generally good about getting silverware. So, sacking him at this stage would be senseless. This would theoretically be the time to hire Benitez. Heck, he could get lucky and win the Champions League or at least the Copa del Rey. If he ends the season empty-handed and gets knocked out in the quarterfinals or earlier in the Champions League, Benitez will likely not last until the end of the season anyway. But for now, Madrid has no reason to can its manager.

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Truthfully, Real Madrid made a massive error in judgment in sending off Italian manager Carlo Ancelotti. Ancelotti won Real Madrid’s 10th Champions League/European Cup crown. A year later, the Italian went trophy-less and, subsequently, jobless. Only, he should never have been sacked, as the players kept playing for the manager through the finish line and the team did not miss out on domestic and European glory by a significant margin. Even the fans seemed content to keep Ancelotti around, which is rare for Real Madrid supporters.

In 2014-15, Real Madrid lost 3-2 on aggregate to Juventus in the Champions League semifinals, which meant the Spaniards only narrowly missed out on setting up El Clasico in the Champions League final. In La Liga, Ancelotti guided Real Madrid to a second-place finish only two points back of Barcelona but a full 14 points better than third-place Atletico Madrid. Real Madrid split the Clasicos and didn’t miss by much in the league or in Europe. Ancelotti deserved more time.

Instead, Real Madrid preferred a “Spanish speaking” manager. Benitez, with his history of playing for Real Madrid Castilla, instantly appeared to claim his dream job. But the 55-year-old, who started his coaching career with Real Madrid B, did not fit in with Real Madrid’s immediate goal of winning La Liga and restoring dominance over Barcelona in Spain. So, he failed on that front, which was predicted well in advance, obviously.

So, on Monday, Real Madrid president Florentino Perez publicly provided the dreaded vote of confidence to Benitez. Meanwhile, rumors of Zinedine Zidane coming in to supplant Benitez rage through the tabloids. Even talk of Ancelotti coming back in the true style of Italian managers has begun to swirl. Benitez appears marked for death.

Truthfully, Real Madrid should never have hired Benitez, but this is certainly not the time to fire him.

Shahan Ahmed is a soccer columnist for Yahoo Sports. Follow Shahan on Twitter: @ShahanLA and @perfectpass