ESPN FC’s Paul Mariner and Ross Dyer look at how Real Madrid manager Julen Lopetegui can turn things around after a fifth-straight game without a win.
Real Madrid coach Julen Lopetegui said he did not fear for his job after his side lost 2-1 to Levante at the Bernabeu and narrowly avoided setting a new club-record goal drought, saying “football had been unjust.”
Madrid were 2-0 down in only 13 minutes, Raphael Varane at fault both times as Jose Luis Morales put the visitors ahead and Roger Marti doubled the lead from the penalty spot.
Casemiro and Mariano Diaz hit the woodwork with headers, but Marcelo’s strike with 20 minutes remaining kept Madrid’s hopes of a recovery alive and ended the club’s run without a goal in all competitions at 480 minutes.
It had been reported that this surpassed a previous record barren run of 464 minutes, set in 1985. However, that run of 23 years ago extended to 495 minutes, and remains the longest in Madrid’s 116-year history.
Lopetegui told his postmatch news conference he was not worried about club president Florentino Perez making a change.
“That is the last thing I am thinking about,” he said. “The players do not deserve this punishment. The dressing-room is down after a defeat at home — football has been unjust with us.
“I am just thinking about lifting them for the important Champions League game on Tuesday [against Viktoria Plzen] where we can turn this dynamic around.”
Lopetegui said Madrid were attacking well but lacked fortune in front of goal. “We had 34 or 35 shots at goal, 14 on target, nine corners, four balls off the woodwork, a goal disallowed,” he said.
“Stats do not count much in football — it is goals that count. But we attacked a lot, and attacked very well. I am sure that football will soon start giving to us what it is taking away at the moment.”
Despite his team having conceded first for the seventh time in 11 outings this season, Lopetegui denied they had a problem at the beginning of games.
“The team did not start badly — we were attacking well in the opening stages, made a mistake and got punished,” he said.
“They caught us with a goal when we were doing well. On a collective level we were making chances. We must keep trying so that this feeling of playing well is translated into goals for us.”
Asked whether he was trying to put a positive spin on things, the former Spain coach said: “I am not trying to convince anybody, just describing what happened on the pitch.”
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