Real Madrid’s new interim manager Santiago Solari will be afforded a gentle introduction to his tenure as the club travel to the autonomous city of Melilla for their third-round Copa del Rey clash on Wednesday.
Solari, who was the manager of Real Madrid Castilla - the club's B Side - was selected as temporary replacement after negotiations broke down between the club and Antonio Conte.
However, La Liga rules mean that Solari can only serve as interim manager for two weeks so the club will have to decide whether to instate him on a permanent basis or continue their search for a new boss.
“I’m going to go into things positively and do everything I can. It’s a great opportunity,” Solari said at the pre-match press conference.
“In life in general and in this profession we are all just here passing through. Everything goes very quickly, the important thing is the day to day, it is the same for players as well.
“They have different processes and different rhythms, the important thing is you go into every game and do good things in every minute of every game.
“They really want to change things and turn things around, it is a group of hard workers and players who have won a lot of things for this club.
“It is not the easiest situation but I saw them in a mood to turn things around and change things.”
Julen Lopetegui was sacked after just 139 days in charge of the Spanish giants, who have lost four of their last five games culminating in a 5-1 thrashing at the hands of Barcelona last weekend.
Mauricio Pochettino is thought to be Madrid's first choice to take over but know that it would be almost impossible to prise the Argentinian from Tottenham midway through the season and are willing to wait until next summer to secure his services.
Zinedine Zidane, who went on to win three successive Champions League titles with the club, also began his managerial career with Madrid’s B team lending to an automatic comparison with Solari who was quick to separate himself from the World Cup winner's legacy.
“With respect to Zinedine Zidane, he is one of the greatest things we have had at the club,” he said.
“All of the adjectives you can think of are not enough to describe Zizou, he is very calm, a great coach and nobody can be compared to him."
