Real Madrid crisis: whose fault is Julen Lopetegui, Florentino Pérez or Cristiano Ronaldo?

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When the Brazilian Marcelo scored what would be a consolation goal against Levante on Saturday, he ended an unprecedented 482 drought by Real Madrid.

The second worst series of its history.

However, he was able to avoid the 2-1 defeat at the Santiago Bernabéu stadium, the third of his last four games, which allowed to sound the alarm in all sectors surrounding what is considered the World's Biggest

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The situation seems untenable for his technician, Julen Lopetegui, and the Spanish press already speculates with the name of Argentine Santiago Solari to replace him only five months after being appointed to lead the group. club having won four of the last five competitions in the Champions League, the last three consecutive.

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But is Lopetegui the only one responsible for the crisis that the white entity is going through? Are there any other culprits?

Guillem Balagué BBC Sport editorialist and specialist in Spanish football, looking for answers.

The argument of Lopetegui

Lopetegui arrived in Madrid after the surprise departure of French Zinedine Zidane. surrounded by controversy for having announced his agreement while he was still Spain coach.

It bothered the officials of the selection, who had opted for his dismissal the day before the opening of the 2018 World Cup Russia, tournament disappointed for the European Red.

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His official debut could not go in the worst direction after his 4-2 defeat at Atlético de Madrid in overtime in Europe's Super Cup.

• Julen Lopetegui was eliminated as a coach from Spain and Fernando Hierro was named one day. before the start of the 2018 Russia World Cup

And with only five wins in his first 12 games, it's obvious he's struggling to put in place the change of command in the team.

"The players do not answer or do not play well", explain Balagué

"They are at a lower level, just watch the performance of the French defender Raphael Varane this weekend, or the low contribution of personalities such as Luka Modrid, Marco Asencio, Marcelo and others ". 19659007] "Instead of ensuring that the team does not score goals and does not rest on a solid foundation, Lopetegui continues to insist on playing the same way with a very high defense as he did it against Levante, allows rivals to oppose the game and easily exploit the spaces behind them, "added the Spanish journalist.

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Neither has been able to prevent players from starting games as indifferent. The first goals were scored by 89% of Madrid goals.

"Former Argentine coach Cesar Luis Menotti said that coaches earned their money by making sure their teams create opportunities." Write them down. Balagué remembered that it was the responsibility of the players .

In this sense, Lopetegui could point out that his coaches shot three times on the posts and they got a total of 34 shots, including 15 shots aimed at the goal.

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On the other hand, Levante only had two chances between the three clubs , scoring both.

statistics and the truth is that Real Madrid's attack lacks quality in the decisive zone and has not had as many clear opportunities as the numbers suggest.

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It is possible that one of the reasons for Zidane's departure was that he was not going to get the support of the club to make the changes that he deemed necessary in the club ( new reinforcements and departure from Gareth Bale), but at this level Lopetegui still does not enjoy the authority.

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"It is possible that Lopetegui be blamed most accepted such a challenge " said Balagué, adding that the club had not accepted any of his requests to strengthen the team.

Throughout the season, the coach has repeated many times that he has full confidence in his players. The question is whether the players and the team have the same confidence in him.

What about players?

This season, Real Madrid has scored only 13 goals in nine league games.

that the responsible for ending the drought was a side manager, having three forwards recognized on the ground, says a lot about the problems of the team.

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But especially in some players who did not meet the expectations, as is the case of Asensio, who has clearly not evolved as we thought and who wants to so one of the best in the future Players of the world.

Karim Benzema started the season well, but she is stalled and Bale's lingering injury problems have also had a negative impact on the team's progress.

"But this is the unity that was most disturbing reflecting the lack of frequent interest in recovering the balloon and when they have it, showing no not enough movement, intent or effort, "Balagué explained.

Is it mental fatigue or is it an easy way to get rid of the responsibility of the players, knowing that the blame will fall on someone else? , do you say the coach?

And Florentino?

Supporters surprisingly supported Lopetegui, t at the same time for the risky bet of preferring Real Madrid to the Spanish team.

But this feeling does not extend to the president of the club, Florentino Pérez.

According to a survey of the sports newspaper of the Spanish capital, Diario As, 85% of supporters blame Perez for the crisis that runs through Real Madrid.

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And it is probably trivial to know that Lopetegui was far from being Perez's favorite choice to replace Zidane.

Argentina Mauricio Pochettino Italian Mbadimiliano Allegri [Italien] the German Julian Nagelsmann and even the former coach of Chelsea, l & # 39; Antonio Antonio Count already appeared before the name of Lopetegui.

Perez did not leave either. to defend his coach and the feeling is that Lopetegui already has his days numbered and that the question is exactly when his dismissal will be announced.

Will it be imminent, after Tuesday's match for the Champions League against Viktoria Plzen, or maybe after the clbadic against Barcelona on Sunday?

"Whatever happens in Lopetegui, this will not relieve the pressure on Perez, who was ultimately responsible for training the current seed players and whose only signatures did not match the needs of the team "said Balagué.

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Goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois and right-back Álvaro Odriozola were the only ones to recruit a team that saw how the top scorer in his history decided to retire and try his luck in another city, a other league and another club, Juventus.

The departure of Cristiano Ronaldo left Madrid without his referent and until then the sum of Bale, Benzema and the Brazilian youth Vinicius Junior has not been able to get closer to the success and the Efficiency of the Portuguese.

Pérez was ready to seek a great name to replace him, but the only ones that interested him, Neymar or Kylian Mbappé, never showed any interest in leaving Paris Saint-Germain.

Without the possibility of relying on them, their attention focused on what has become his main focus and his greatest obsession, the remodeling of the Santiago Bernabéu.

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Besides Ronaldo, the Croatian Mateo Kovacic also left the team, while Danilo, Álvaro Morata and Pepe left last season, but none has been adequately replaced.

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The weakening of the team remained in the shadow of the historic title won in the Champions League, but we must not forget that Madrid ignored the fight for the league before crossing the equator of the championship, being at 17 Barcelona points in the standings.

To this is added its elimination of the Copa del Rey by the modest Leganés.

It is likely that he was eliminated by PSG, Juventus or Bayern, the farewell of Zidane would have already occurred before.

Very early?

Each time, the influence of Ronaldo on the recent success of Madrid seems more obvious and the importance of his absence in the team.

Does this mean that the culprit of the current crisis is Ronaldo or the emptiness left after his departure? Balagué does not think so.

"Last year, they scored 94 goals, only 26 on Ronaldo, and 22 of them since January," he said.

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"Plus was important, they had received 44 goals twice as much as Atletico Madrid and 15 more than Barcelona." Balagué also points out that they live "at different times in the league with clubs in a better financial position through a more equitable distribution of television rights".

"Alavés and Espanyol are among the top four in the painting, something unthinkable before the changes."

The Spanish journalist believes however that he is too early to dismiss Real Madrid ] of the title fight, knowing that it's only four. Barcelona points, the leader.

"Let's go back to the 2000-2001 season, one of the leagues in which I had a similar number of points in a similar situation," said Balagué.

"At the end of this season, it was at the top of the table, yes it is above Deportiva de la Coruña and is number 28."

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