As his players trained on Monday morning, Julen Lopetegui knew it was all over. The Real Madrid coach was removed from all official images of the session on the club’s website. And after five defeats in seven matches, culminating in a 5-1 loss to Barcelona on Sunday, there was no way back.
The question was not if, but when. Lopetegui spent the afternoon with his family, waiting for the news which finally arrived at 9pm. "The Board of Directors of Real Madrid C. F., after a meeting today October 29, 2018, has agreed to terminate the contract that linked coach Julen Lopetegui with the club,” a statement read.
“The Board of Directors understands that there is a great disproportion between the quality of the staff of Real Madrid, which has eight players nominated for the next Ballon d’Or, something unprecedented in the history of the club, and the results obtained to date. The club thanks Julen Lopetegui and his entire technical team for their effort and work and wishes them the best in their professional career.”
And that was that. Lopetegui appeared a beaten man in the press room at Camp Nou on Sunday evening. Out on the pitch, he had seen his side not only lose a match he had to win in order to prolong his tenure, but end up on the end of a humiliating 5-1 thrashing. He vowed to keep on fighting, claiming he could turn it around. But his words were empty. He was gone – and he knew it.
If he could turn back time, Lopetegui would surely do things differently. Accepting Real Madrid’s offer and allowing Los Blancos to announce the decision on the eve of the World Cup ended up costing him his role with the national team and the chance of leading a super Spain side out in Russia – perhaps even to the trophy itself.
Instead, he found himself giving a press conference a day before La Roja's World Cup debut against Portugal, but back in Madrid as he was unveiled by Real, having been sacked by RFEF president Luis Rubiales.
“After the death of my mother," he said, "it was the saddest day of life." And after a long pause to regain his composure and fight back the tears, he added: "But today is the happiest day of my life."
Even then, though, something seemed to be broken. There must have been an element of regret about the Spain situation and after that, it simply had to work with Madrid. And it has not. In truth, there is no real surprise – and circumstances have contributed to his downfall.
Predecessor Zinedine Zidane (above) spoke of a lack of motivation in the squad and jumped before he could be pushed. There were signs of decline last season and the Frenchman had papered over the cracks with a third straight Champions League crown.
Then Cristiano Ronaldo left. The Portuguese was described by Lopetegui at his unveiling as “a player I would always want by my side”, but he never had the pleasure of working with the five-time Ballon d’Or winner. And he was not replaced, either. “Ronaldo left and there was talk of Neymar, but no one arrived. They have stolen 50 goals from my son,” the coach's father said ahead of the Clasico.
There is also the video assistant referee. In times gone by, Madrid have on occasions benefited from a decision or two in their favour in hours of need, but now now. VAR ruled out a Luka Modric strike in Seville, gave Levante a penalty nine days ago (after a free-kick had been awarded), chalked off a Marco Asensio effort in the same game and then handed Barcelona a penalty on Sunday. Correct calls, but ones which would have fallen Real’s way in the past. Even that has gone against Lopetegui.
Nevertheless, for a Madrid side to not score in eight hours of football is nowhere near acceptable, nor is a run of five losses in seven games and certainly not a 5-1 loss in the Clasico on top of all that. And the 52-year-old coach will have been aware of that – however much he spoke about bad luck. His run of poor fortune is not really a shock, though. On that fateful day in Krasnodar in June, it all took a turn for the worse.
Lopetegui has been a dead man walking for some time now and little over four months after his Spain sacking, a cruel conclusion awaited. It has now finally been confirmed.
Two dreams have been shattered and one man broken as Real ruthlessly move on with little care for the coach they used and abused. Despite the mistakes made by Lopetegui himself, it somehow seems unfair.
