Julen Lopetegui Is Refusing to Think About His Own Future After Shock Defeat to Levante
After falling to a shock defeat at home to Levante, the club's fourth loss in five games, Real Madrid manager Julen Lopetegui has revealed that the last thing he will be thinking about is his own future.
Madrid lost 2-1 at home to mid-table side Levante and now head into one of the biggest weeks of their season, which includes the El Classico against Barcelona next Sunday, as pundits and fans alike are calling for Lopetgeui to be replaced.
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Marca have reported that during his post match interview the under-fire boss wouldn't be drawn into any talk about his position and the speculation surrounding it.
"My job? Right now that's the last thing on my mind," he said.
"I have to lift the players for a very important game on Tuesday. I believe we clearly deserved to win the match.
"Football is what you make of it, the team who scores the most goals wins. We have to sit down and think about what we are doing badly, to change the momentum. The goal is not coming. We have to insist and not worry, the team have done many things well.
"My players don't deserve this punishment, we have a Champions League game and we have to recover."
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With many sources claiming that Madrid have already spoken to Chelsea's former Italian manager Antonio Conte about succeeding Lopetegui, it looks like the Spaniard's job is hanging on by a thread.
His side face Viktoria Plzen in the Champions League on Tuesday, a game they are expected to win with ease, but it will be next Sunday that could be the match that finally decides his fate.
A Defeat to Barcelona would put them 7 points behind their biggest rivals at this early stage and would surely be the final straw for the ever-demanding Real Madrid hierarchy.
