After just 138 days into his job, Julen Lopetegui was sacked by Real Madrid. Lopetegui is shown the door after Real Madrid swooped him from the Spanish national team ahead of the 2018 FIFA World Cup, a move that cost Lopetegui job as coach of Spanish national team. Lopetegui lost his job after the 5-1 humiliation at Nou Camp by Barcelona.
Real Madrid players were all over the pitch and lacked coordination in both attack and defense. El Clasico loss was seventh straight game for Real Madrid without a convincing victory. Their only win came against Viktoria Plzen during the Champions League group match. Lopetegui has managed to lose 6 games across all competitions and won only as many games during his unconvincing stay at Bernabeu.
Lopetegui had claimed that he has the strength to carry on as Real Madrid coach but the decision was made by the club. Today the club issued a statement about releasing him from the position. The statement from Real Madrid said "The board understands that there is greatest difference in the quality of Real Madrid room which eight players nominated for Ballon d'Or, unprecedented in club history and our current results. We are grateful for Lopetegui and his staff and wish them best in their professional career."
With Lopetegui sacked, Real Madrid has appointed Santiago Solari as the interim coach. Madrid had accepted that they are in talks with former Chelsea boss Antonio Conte. But talks seemed to have slowed down since this Monday as the club captain, Sergio Ramos expressed displeasure over his appointment. Ramos clearly did not welcome him discussion about Conte because of his strict philosophy. The Real Madrid captain also stated, "Respect is earned, not imposed."
Ramos was more interested in appointing one of former Real Madrid managers like Zinedine Zidane, Vincente Del Bosque, and Carlo Ancelotti. "We know the managers with whom we had success. None of them was authoritarian and had a close relationship with the squad." With Lopetegui sacked, Real Madrid's search for a new manager continues and the fan favorite to bring back Zinedine Zidane.
