Real Madrid boss Julen Lopetegui has lost the support of Marca, which declares the Coach as ‘finished’ at the Santiago Bernabeu.
That was followed by madridistas calling for Antonio Conte to be sworn in, although the former Spain boss insisted being sacked was ‘the last thing on my mind’.
Nonetheless, Marca described him as ‘a failed bet’, writing ‘we just need to put a date on his departure. If it’s not today, it’ll be tomorrow, next week or after the Clasico.’
The newspaper claims Lopetegui is only still in a job due to the lack of ‘clear replacements’ available, but it also took aim at President Florentino Perez for ‘bad planning’ over the summer.
Madrid lost their all-time top goalscorer Cristiano Ronaldo to Juventus in July but failed to splash out on a similar big name, instead only bringing back youth product Mariano Diaz and promoting teenager Vinicius Jr to their first team.
That was also despite Karim Benzema struggling for goals and Gareth Bale failing to go any of his five seasons in the Spanish capital without injuries.
Indeed, Marca accused Perez of being ‘obsessed’ with Neymar and redeveloping the Bernabeu, as well as ignoring Lopetegui’s pleas for a midfielder to replace Mateo Kovacic and a top-level striker as Thibaut Courtois and Alvaro Odriozola ‘weren’t priorities’.
Sergio Ramos, who recommended Lopetegui to Los Merengues’ board, would also be ‘in question’, given his performances so far this season ‘haven’t helped’ the Coach.
Nonetheless, the publication concludes ‘the poor condition’ of Madrid’s players are the ‘responsibility’ of the 52-year-old, who ‘lacks experience in dealing with these situations’ and whose message ‘no longer seems to be reaching the squad’.
