Lopetegui addresses reports that he is set to be sacked by Real Madrid

Real Madrid coach Julen Lopetegui admits he cannot guarantee he will still be in charge when his team travel to Barcelona for the Clasico on Sunday.



The 52-year-old spoke to the media at Real’s training base at Valdebebas on Monday as he prepares for Tuesday’s Champions League clash at home to Viktoria Plzen and was forced to field an array of questions about his future after a run of four defeats in five games that has left him on the brink of the sack.



Asked if can guarantee he will be on the bench at Camp Nou on Sunday, Lopetegui said: “I can’t confirm any more than now. I am sat here. We are concentrated on the present and on what happens today.”

Photo: AP

Although he met with president Florentino Perez after Saturday’s 2-1 loss to Levante and seemed set to continue at least until the Clasico, Lopetegui now looks to be close to the end with the club chief ready to make a change this week.



“We have a game tomorrow that motivates us to the maximum and we are going to give it our greatest energy,” the coach said when it was put to him that tomorrow’s match could be his last.



And in yet another question regarding his future, he said: “What I have done is analyse our rival in tomorrow’s game. I’m not looking beyond that stage. It’s what my position as coach obliges.”



Asked if he has heard and read all the reports that he is about to be dismissed, the former Spain boss said: “I’m not aware of what is being said. I’m focused on my players and on our rival. If that weren’t the case, I would be a coach and certainly not at Real Madrid.”



It seems certain now that he will not be for too much longer, but Lopetegui told the media that the club (where he started his career as a player) had taught him to fight.



“What I have learnt at this club is to fight,” he said. “I have it engraved in me with fire and we are going to fight to revert this situation which is not the best, but we are still in time to be able to revert it and we will fight to play the best game we can tomorrow against a team we respect.”

