Varane's beautiful gesture to Lopetegui after the coach's dismissal Real Madrid Apologised for performances

Days after Julen Lopetegui was sacked as Real Madrid head coach, Raphael Varane picked up the phone and called his former boss to apologise for his slow start to the season.

After winning the World Cup with France, it was not surprising that the centre-back was a little rusty when he returned to Madrid and Varane was at fault for the two goals in Los Blancos' 2-1 home loss to Levante, while he also gave away a penalty to Luis Suarez in the 5-1 defeat at the Camp Nou.

Varane ensured that he gave everything on the pitch for Lopetegui but apologised for his errors; he admitted that he was not at his best after the World Cup and felt like some of his mistakes cost the Spaniard his job.

The reaction of Lopetegui was of total appreciation for the 25-year-old as it was a beautiful act, something that the coach will have respected greatly.

Others said their apologies and goodbyes on social media, though admittedly Lopetegui did return to Valdebebas the day after his dismissal to say farewell in a talk with the players.

Clearly it was not just Varane who underperformed to start the season, but it says a lot about his character that he was willing to absorb the blame as he apologised to his former coach.