Real Madrid and Julen Lopetegui Part Ways After 5-1 El Clasico Loss to Barcelona
October 29, 2018
Real Madrid confirmed Monday that they have parted ways with manager Julen Lopetegui.
Despite only being confirmed as the successor to Zinedine Zidane in June, the European champions said in a statement on their official website that a change had been made. Santiago Solari was named as Lopetegui's replacement.
In the statement, Real Madrid added: "The board considers there to be a large disparity between the quality within the Real Madrid squad, which boasts eight nominees for the next Ballon d'Or award—an unprecedented number in the club's history—and the team's results to date."
The announcement comes after Sunday's Clasico showdown with Barcelona at the Camp Nou. Despite Lionel Messi being absent with a broken arm, Barca won 5-1 as Luis Suarez bagged a hat-trick.
The result sees Real remain ninth in La Liga, seven points behind their Catalan rivals and with a goal difference of zero.
Lopetegui was only in charge of the club for four months but showed no animosity towards Real in a statement released after his sacking, thanking Los Blancos for the opportunity, per the Mirror's Martin Domin:
"After the decision adopted by the board of directors of Real Madrid, I want to thank the club for the opportunity it gave me.
"I'd also like to give thanks to the players for their effort and their work, as well as to each and every one of the club's employees, for their good treatment of me during this time.
"And, of course, my gratitude to the fans for their encouragement. Best wishes for the remainder of the season."
Per the Spanish Football Podcast, results earlier on Sunday had left Los Blancos in an unfamiliarly lowly position going into the game against their bitter rivals:
While this result appeared to be the final straw for key figures at the Santiago Bernabeu, the damage was done long before the contest.
According to Sid Lowe of the Guardian, following the shock loss to Levante at home on October 20, Los Blancos made the decision that there was no way back for Lopetegui, with only the date of his departure to be settled.
In the summer, Lopetegui did enter a difficult position at Madrid. While he took over a team that had won three UEFA Champions League titles in a row, replacing club icon and former manager Zidane was always going to be a big challenge.
Per Dermot Corrigan of ESPN FC, while there was a connection between key players and the Frenchman, there doesn't appear to be the same link between them and Lopetegui:
Additionally, Lopetegui also had to cope with the sale of Cristiano Ronaldo, who transferred to Juventus after nine memorable years in the Spanish capital. He became the club's all-time record goalscorer and was vital in four successful Champions League terms.
The failure to properly replace Ronaldo was considered a crime by Lopetegui's father, Jose Antonio, who told El Mundo Deportivo (h/t Goal's James Westwood) that Real had "stolen 50 goals" from his son:
"Cristiano Ronaldo was good. Was he cocky? We all have defects, but it turns out he scored 50 goals a season.
"He is missing. You are missing a prominent goalscorer. They haven't bought one, not a single one.
"There was talk of Neymar and others, but no one came. They have stolen 50 goals from my son!"
Given his potency in front of goal, Ronaldo was always going to be tough to replace. However, Madrid only brought in Mariano Diaz in terms of attacking reinforcements, and the goals have dried up as a result.
During Lopetegui's tenure, the team went through the longest scoreless spell in the history of the iconic club:
Even so, Madrid do have some fine attacking players, and midfielder Isco said there's an onus on the players to perform better:
But it's too late for Lopetegui, and given the way in which he was appointed by Madrid—he took the position during his time as Spain boss, only to be sacked by the national team immediately prior to the 2018 FIFA World Cup—his reputation as a manager has now reached a nadir.
Whoever does come in at the Bernabeu has a big job to turn things around. According to Marca's Carlos Carpio, former Los Blancos player and current Real Madrid Castilla coach Santiago Solari is the leading candidate to take over, while names like Antonio Conte and Laurent Blanc are also in the frame.