Madrid: Real Madrid’s players may have offered a show of public support to coach Julen Lopetegui but if they fail to win at home against Viktoria Plzen Tuesday night, their words will mean very little.
“Julen has the backing of the entire team,” Sergio Ramos said after Madrid’s 1-2 loss to Levante Saturday, their fourth defeat in five games and third in a row. “We are with him to the death,” said Marcelo.
However, if club president Florentino Perez decides to weild the axe on Lopetegui, Santiago Solari, coach of Castilla, Real Madrid’s B team, could take charge in the short-term but the troubled search for a suitable coach in the summer would not appear much smoother now.
Mauricio Pochettino, Jurgen Klopp and Max Allegri would all be near-impossible to sign mid-season, while Joachim Low is still attached to Germany. Former Chelsea manager Antonio Conte is out of work now but there would be an issue with the Italian’s style of play, not to mention any legal wranglings around his compensation package with the EPL club. Former Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger would be fascinating but high-risk.
For Lopetegui to call off the search, victory is surely essential at the Santiago Bernabeu against Plzen, the Czech team that have only won two Champions League matches in their history.
Then avoiding defeat to Barcelona, who will be without the injured Lionel Messi, could buy him a trio of theoretically kinder fixtures against Melilla in the Copa del Rey, Real Valladolid in the league and Plzen again in the Czech Republic. Win those, and the outlook might look rosier.