Replacement lined-up as pressure mounts on Real Madrid boss Julen Lopetegui
Drew Bartle Head Sports Editor
Julen Lopetegui, Real Madrid’s seriously under-pressure boss, is ‘close’ to being dismissed after controversially just a matter of months after being sacked as Spain manager on the eve of this past summer’s World Cup.
The report in talkSPORT says that former Real Madrid player and current B team boss Santiago Solari is the man being tipped to replace the beleaguered Julen Lopetegui.
Real Madrid haven’t won in their last five fixtures, losing four and drawing one and have slipped to seventh in the La Liga table – below the likes of Valladolid and Alaves.
Two key fixtures are coming fast for the club with a Champions League tie against Plzen midweek and then the much anticipated El Clasico against Barcelona this Sunday. The question remains whether Madrid will pull the trigger prior to the Champions League tie or whether the hierarchy will give Lopetegui the benefit of the doubt into the weekend’s huge fixture.
A report on talkSPORT earlier this past weekend said that Antonio Conte is the favourite to take the job having been out of work since being sacked as Chelsea boss earlier in the summer.
However, the club appear keen to promote from within and that worked out pretty well last time when Zinedine Zidane got the gig – three Champions League titles in three years backed their decision emphatically.