Carlo Ancelotti sacked, Rafa Benitez favorite to replace him at Real Madrid

It's official: Carlo Ancelotti has been fired by Real Madrid. The legendary Italian manager won Madrid La Decima, their long-sought tenth Champions League title, and a Copa Del Rey for good measure, but a trophy-free second season doomed him to the sack in the high-pressure, high-demand world that is Madrid.

There's been numerous rumors and reports of late that Napoli manager Rafa Benitez will be headed to the Santiago Bernabeu next season, and the oddsmakers seem to agree. No matter where you look, the book makers universally have it as better than even odds that Rafa is the next man to lead Real Madrid, most of then well over even odds.

Now, betting odds aren't always the best tool to use to judge the likelihood of something happening. Bookmakers love to sucker people in to making bets that leave the money in-house with as few winners as possible, so they tend to latch on to "hot rumors" and run up some impressive betting tallies because of it. Betting lines can also move based soly on the "action," or how many people are betting on a particular result.

But as part of a broader picture, it's just one more stone in the path sending Rafa back to his home town. Every report and indicator we get makes it look more likely that Rafa goes to Real Madrid, for better or for worse. It's going to be interesting to see how that one plays out.