In June, Real Madrid announced that they had installed Julen Lopetegui at the helm to replace Zinedine Zidane. However, the timing of the announcement (2 days before the World Cup) led to Lopetegui’s ouster as the Spanish national team manager. With just one decision, Florentino Perez had contrived to set up Spain’s World Cup for disaster while also sowing the seeds for a dismal quarter of Real Madrid’s season. At Real Madrid, Lopetegui won only a handful of games and tasted defeat six times. However, it was him apparently ‘losing the dressing room’ which proved to be the last straw. When the Spaniard was appointed, he was heralded as a shrewd acquisition. The footballing world...
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