It has been a rough ride for Real Madrid since their summer of discontent. First Zinedine Zidane leaves after a trophy-laden spell, then star man Cristiano Ronaldo heads to Turin giants Juventus and then new boss Julen Lopetugui has a complete nightmare and gets himself sacked after just four months in the hot seat and an embarrassing 5-1 El Clasico hammering. With speculation rife as to who may take over the coveted Real managers seat with Antonio Conte and Mauricio Pochettino heavily linked with the vacant seat, Los Blancos have promoted internally taking a leaf out of rivals … [Read more...]
What Next for Lopetegui?
On Monday, Real Madrid confirmed what we all knew was happening. Head coach Julen Lopetegui was given the boot with the 5-1 thumping by Barcelona the straw that broke the camel’s back. It does not matter who are, there is no coming back from that but when you throw in five defeats in seven, then the situation becomes critical and even if Lopetegui had managed to mastermind a result over the old enemy there was a sense that nothing could save him. It has been quite the fall from grace for the man who went nearly two years unbeaten as Spain manager before his association with Real … [Read more...]
Who is in the Running to be the Next Real Madrid Boss?
It almost feels a little criminal writing this as Julen Lopetegui still occupies the Real Madrid hot seat. However, by Real’s lofty standards, the current predicament is quite frankly an embarrassment and despite only accepting the Los Blancos job prior to the World Cup, there is a sense that the former Spain head coach will be departing the club sooner rather than later. Ahead of the iconic El Clasico, Real Madrid sit seventh in the table with just four wins from their opening nine games. Remarkably, this puts Lopetegui’s side behind the likes of Espanyol, Alaves and even Real … [Read more...]
The Big One: Barcelona v Inter Milan Preview
On Wednesday evening Barcelona welcome Italian heavyweights Inter Milan to the Camp Nou in a game that is perhaps worthier of being the final rather than a group game. However, that scenario may still come true as both Barcelona and Inter Milan find themselves locked together on six points as the top two in a difficult group B. We will learn much about both these sides during this encounter with both teams champions league final odds set to take a dramatic turn for better or for worse depending on the outcome. So, who will win? And who has the edge coming into this titanic Champions … [Read more...]
Lopetegui replacement on Real’s radar?
Real Madrid are already sounding out potential replacements for Julen Lopetegui after the new manager made a disastrous start to life at the Bernebeu. Los Blancos are winless in their last four games and the players are said to be mutinous over his questionable tactics. A 1-0 defeat away at Alaves last time out embarrassed the European champions, and Lopetegui is on very thin ice indeed. Florentino Perez has already drawn up a shortlist of candidates to replace the former Spain boss, including Antonio Conte, Michael Laudrup and Laurent Blanc. Lopetegui’s one saving grace is that Barcelona … [Read more...]