Real Madrid boss Julen Lopetegui is desperate for his side to secure reinforcements before the transfer window slams shut, with his requests to the club’s board proving eerily similar to those made by predecessor Zinedine Zidane.
Zidane’s decision to bring an end to his trophy-laden spell in charge at the Bernabeu led to a frantic search for his successor. Weeks of hunting eventually led to the Madrid-based side appointing Lopetegui as their new boss, heavily disrupting Spain’s World Cup preparations in the process.
Lopetegui arrived to lead pre-season to a squad bereft of its biggest star in the form of Cristiano Ronaldo and in serious need of strengthening.
Reinforcements have since arrived, but not to the level expected, leaving Madrid’s spine looking worryingly brittle.
The European champions are thught to have identified centre-back, central midfield and up front as the three position they need to strengthen before the end of the month.
Curiously, theses are also the three roles that Zidane had set his sights on recruiting for before his shock departure, according to ‘El Confidencial’.
The 4-2 UEFA Super Cup defeat to city rivals Atletico Madrid has only reinforced the need for new recruits as ‘Los Blancos’ missed out on their first opportunity to claim silverware this season.
Real Madrid and their supporters will be finding it difficult to forget Zinedine Zidane, even more so after the loss against Atletico. In the Zidane era they won every final they reached.
The Real Madrid side lost the match by a score of four goals to two, and that should be cause for concern for Zidane’s replacement, Julen Lopetegui.
With the Frenchman in charge, ‘Los Blancos’ never conceded more than three goals in a single match. Real’s defensive weakness has been exposed in Lopetegui’s first competitive game in charge.
In two and a half years Real Madrid fans never saw their side concede four goals. During his time at the Bernabeu, many talked about the defensive issues at Real because his side struggled to keep clean sheets.
But, in one night, Lopetegui fared worse than Zidane – something that could cause immediate worry in Madrid. It’s not only about getting off to a good start, with players who are still coming back into fitness, but the fans will be hoping they don’t see more of this in the coming months.