Julen Lopetegui's future at Real Madrid looks in very big danger after yesterday's loss to Levante but he's been on shaky ground for a while after reports that Real contacted Antonio Conte last month.
June 12th 2018 and Spain are one of the favourites to win the World Cup. The team are undefeated in their 20 games under Julen Lopetegui and their opening game of the tournament is just three days away.
Suddenly the team were plunged into controversy as news that Lopetegui would take the job of Real Madrid manager after the World Cup was leaked and within 24 hours the manager is sacked.
Now Lopetegui stands on the precipice of losing two of the world's highest profile jobs in the space of just over four months with his Real side struggling.
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On Saturday Los Blancos lost 2-1 at home to Levante, their fifth game without a win in a row, leaving the former Porto man under pressure ahead of next weekend's Clasico, which some don't think he'll make.
His future though has been in doubt for a couple of weeks it seems. According to Spanish paper El Pais the club contacted Antonio Conte the day after the 3-0 loss to Sevilla, the first game of the five match sequence, about potentially becoming manager.
Furthermore the report adds that Florentino Perez has thought that a change of manager would be necessary ever since the Champions League loss to CSKA Moscow on October 2nd.
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It's thought that Perez, who has become increasingly cold to the manager to the point he will try to avoid him, is waiting for the result of the game against Barcelona before ultimately making the decision.
The president believes that Lopetegui staying in charge at the Bernabeu stops their chances of advancing in the Champions League or even finishing in La Liga's top four.
Conte has been out of work since the summer. It was expected that he would be sacked at Chelsea, despite winning the Premier League and FA Cup in two seasons there, but it took till the club returned from their break for him to be removed.
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He would be the most obvious choice to take over as manager although the club could appoint an interim and wait for the new year when Arsene Wenger could take over.
For Lopetegui it shows how quickly things can go wrong. He might be a World Cup winner and still Spain boss but instead he could soon be out of work.
Featured Image Credit:Topics: Football News, Transfer news, Julen Lopetegui, Spanish football, Real Madrid, La Liga, Antonio Conte