Real Madrid starts a new era under Santiago Solari after yesterday's sacking of Julen Lopetegui.
New Real Madrid interim coach Santiago Solari took charge of his team on Tuesday and led his first training session with five stars missing from training, ahead of Wednesday's Copa del Rey trip to Melilla.
The Argentine, who has been coaching the club's Castilla side until now, is in temporary charge of Los Blancos, something which can only last for two weeks, when a final decision will need to be made.
In his first day at the Valdebebas training centre, five first-team players were absent: Dani Carvajal, Raphael Varane, Marcelo, Jesus Vallejo and Mariano.
Solari also called up five Castilla players, who he obviously knows well, and who will all have a chance to feature against Melilla.
They were Sergio Lopez, Adrian De la Fuente, Javi Sanchez, Alex Martín and Fran García.
In the first 15 minutes of Santiago Solari's first training session as Real Madrid coach, the differences between the Argentine and Julen Lopetegui were evident, notably with the return of Antonio Pintus as the team's fitness coach.
The Italian, who was given a secondary role under Lopetegui, is back in the position he enjoyed under Zinedine Zidane. Lopetegui's man was Oscar Caro, who came under criticism in recent weeks because of the squad's fitness levels and injury problems and it appears that the players are far more comfortable with Pintus in charge. ?
With his whistle in hand, the fitness coach was very active in Tuesday's session, demanding a high intensity from the team on what was a very cold and wet morning in Madrid.
After his warm up, it was Santiago Sanchez's turn, who was Solari's second-in-command at Castilla, and he subjected the players to some exercises on the ball.
The Argentine interim coach let his assistants take control of training while he observed from afar.
The Argentinean can remain in the post for a maximum of two weeks before the club has to register Loptegui's definitive successor with the Spanish Football Federation.
That is according to the RFEF rules and regulations, stated under Articule 60, regarding coahes and their licences:
I. If a coaching vacany occurs after the competition has started, the club will be obliged to find a new coach who is licensed for the category within a maximum time frame of two weeks.
The chances of Madrid bringing in Antonio Conte have become more remote as the day has wore on and barring any major surprise, the Italian won't become Madrid's new coach.
Their current caretaker coach Solari, who is Florentino's preferred choice for the job, will only be able to remain in charge for Madrid's forthcoming games against Melilla (31 October; Copa), Valladolid (3 November; Liga), Viktoria Plzen (7 November; Champions League) and Celta (11 November; Liga).
Madrid would also need to recruit a caretaker coach to oversee Castilla's games while Solari is with the first team.
After a fortnight has expired, or even before the 14-day limit is up, Solari would no longer be able to stay on in a temporary role and the club would be served a fine.

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