Julen Lopetegui’s fate in the seat of Real Madrid coach will be determined after El Clasico against Barcelona on Sunday (28/10). In other words, negative results at Camp Nou will be a grave for the former Spain Coach.
The issue of Lopetegui’s dismissal was in full swing since the end of September. Bad results in five games with a record of four defeats and one draw makes Lopetegui’s future uncertainty. Not only that, Real Madrid also failed to score goals in the five matches.
Real Madrid lost 0-3 against Sevilla (27/9/2018), 0-0 draw against Atletico Madrid (30/9/2018), losing 0-1 to CSKA Moskva (3/10/2018) in the Champions League before then lost again from Alaves 0-1 (6/10/2019), and lose again to Levante 1-2 (20/10/2018). These poor results made the media in Spain then proclaim that Lopetegui’s fate was now on the edge. In fact they have provided predictions until when Lopetegui will be given the opportunity to improve the situation.
The 2-1 victory over Red Star Belgrade in the Champions League made Lopetegui still be able to breathe and still lead El Real to appear in El Clasico against his eternal rival Barcelona.
Sport reported Real Madrid President Florentino Perez had thrown a signal to fire Lopetegui despite success in defeating Red Star Belgrade. Perez was found leaving balcony in Santiago Bernabeu executive tribune with a grim face.
However, El Confidencial wrote Perez’s intention to fire Lopetegui could still be suppressed due to the persuasion of Real Madrid General Director Angel Sanchez and other executive officials.
Sanchez, one of the figures admired by Perez stated that the decision to fire Lopetegui was not right at this time. At least Perez was asked to be patient until El Clasico was over.
The reports also stated that confidence in Lopetegui was now very low. However, the club did not want to fire Lopetegui before he was given a chance to improve Real Madrid’s situation in the next matches against Barcelona.
Spanish media began linking Antonio Conte’s name as a strong candidate to replace Lopetegui’s position. His achievements with Juventus and Chelsea are good capital to taste the atmosphere of La Liga.
Neverthelss, Madrid must prepare not a small amount of money. Moreover Conte still gets compensation from Chelsea for £ 9 million until the rest of the contract expires. Madrid must offer a better salary so the Italian coach does not feel lose.
