Rafa Benitez arriving in Madrid for coronation as new Real Madrid coach

The former Valencia, Liverpool and Chelsea boss departed for Madrid by private jet on Monday morning after his Napoli career ended with a 4-2 defeat to Lazio, who clinched Serie A’s last Champions League place.

“I’m excited and happy, but we still have things to talk about,” he told Marca reporters before he caught his plane.

“Does the dream start now? Yes.”

Benitez's appointment was confirmed by Real's Fernandez de Blas in a discussion with fans last week, with the appointment of the former Liverpool and Napoli manager something of a surprise to fans in England and Italy - particularly the latter, where the Spaniard's huge investment has succeeded only in taking the club from second place in Serie A the season before he arrived to fourth place in the campaign which finished at the weekend.

In Spain, however, his reputation remains high thanks to his success in guiding Valencia to the La Liga title in 2001-02.

Rafa's dream, Real's nightmare.