Del Bosque: "Solari has capacity to manage Madrid"

Former Real Madrid and Spain coach Vicente del Bosque says he believes in the capacity of Santiago Solari to manage Real Madrid, adding that that “he has been doing well since the beginning”.

Solari took over for under-fire Julen Lopetegui after a string of bad results that culminated in the 5-1 trouncing by Barcelona at the end of October. Two weeks after having been in the role in an interim position, Solari was named as Lopetegui’s permanent successor in mid-November, signing a deal to remain at the Santiago Bernabéu until 2021.

Since Solari’s arrival, Madrid have played 29 games across all competitions, winning 21, losing six and drawing two. His sixth defeat, and first against Barcelona, came in the second leg of the Copa del Rey semi-final on Wednesday night, as Barca ran out 3-0 winners thanks to a Luis Suarez hat-trick, his second hat-trick against Los Blancos this season.

Speaking at an event to promote young people with disabilities in sport, Del Bosque gave his opinion of the game, which will be followed by another Clásico fixture on Saturday as the two sides meet in LaLiga.

“As always it was a great game, perhaps less of a spectacle than previous encounters, but very competitive,” said the World Cup-winning coach. "There were moments of dominance for both teams. The key to victory was the success of Barcelona.”

When asked about the decisions that Solari must make regarding currently out-of-favour squad members such as Gareth Bale and Isco, Del Bosque responded: "When I had to make decisions, I always did what was best for the management of the group. Solari is capable of handling these types of decisions.”

The former Madrid manager also had a few words to say about Brazilian starlet Vinicius, stating: "age is neither a merit nor a disadvantage; he, like many others, is young and has the ability to be an important player."