Julen Lopetegui’s reign may have been the chronicle of failure foretold; what few imagined was that it would unfold so quickly
They’d been there for a while when the call came through to tell them they were standing in the wrong place. Raphaël Varane’s handball had actually been in the area, VAR decided, so instead of a free-kick it was a penalty, which was why just 14 minutes into this weekend’s opening game, Levante were 2-0 up at the Bernabéu, Real Madrid heading for another defeat and Roger Martí heading for the south-west corner, celebrating. On the opposite touchline Madrid’s manager stood motionless, hands in his pockets, gone. A few rows above, someone tapped the president on the shoulder and gave him a phone. Florentino Pérez took it, looked at the screen, lifted it to his ear, and a million memes were born: bring me the head of Julen Lopetegui.
Related: José Mourinho denies interest in taking over at Real Madrid for a second time
Written by Sid Lowe in Madrid
This news first appeared on https://www.theguardian.com/football/blog/2018/oct/22/real-madrid-julen-lopetegui-and-the-actions-of-a-condemned-man-football-la-liga under the title “Real Madrid, Julen Lopetegui and the actions of a condemned man | Sid Lowe”. Bolchha Nepal is not responsible or affiliated towards the opinion expressed in this news article.
