Julen Lopetegui and the risk of separation before the joy of reunion

The match between Real Madrid and Levante had just passed 12 minutes, the score was already 2-0 for the visitors. Sitting on the coaching bench, Julen Lopetegui looked at Raphael Varane as if he was asking himself: "What should I do with you?".

The French centre-back, a world champion and Ballon d’Or contender, gifted the visitors two free goals before a third of the first half had passed. First, he misjudged a long ball, allowing Levante captain Morales to easily beat Thibaut Courtois. Then he blocked the ball with his hand on the edge of the box. The referee awarded a free kick, but after consulting VAR, he pointed to the spot. 2-0! A stunning blow to Real’s pride.

A flood of criticism and ridicule swept through social media. Real were doused in cold water in front of tens of thousands of home fans while in crisis. And on the surface, Lopetegui was truly pathetic. He had lost five matches in all competitions this season, including three consecutive defeats recently. If Marcelo had not pulled one back in time, Lopetegui would have been condemned to a terrible record: the longest drought in Real Madrid's history. A team like Real Madrid that could not score in 481 minutes of play was truly unacceptable.

Madrid newspapers are calling out Antonio Conte, Santiago Solari and Michel. But is sacking Lopetegui the right solution now, when El Clasico is just a week away? In history, Real has only fired a coach before a Clasico. That was Bernd Schuster, because he said: "We have no chance of beating Barcelona".

Real is in a difficult transition period.No club can... live happily after losing the best scorer in history (Cristiano Ronaldo) and the most successful coach (Zinedine Zidane). Losing these two influential figures, Real had to completely change their playing style. Under Zidane, Real played extremely pragmatically: always knowing how to score even when playing badly. Now, Real is falling into the mirror effect. That is, they play very well, very beautifully, but... do not score.

If a team plays well but doesn't score, can we blame the coach? That's the question Perez needs to answer, after carefully consulting his colleagues. Take the match against Levante as an example: Real made more than... 30 shots, 14 of which were on target. They had 15 corners, and four times the ball bounced off the woodwork. If VAR gave Levante a 2-0 lead, it was also VAR that awarded Marco Asensio a 1-2 equalizer shortly after. Levante goalkeeper Oier had to make a total of 11 saves (Courtois, after conceding two goals, did not make any more saves).

Statistics in football don't mean much, because football is always full of such injustices. Without Ronaldo, Real no longer has a "one-hit killer". They can only beat the opponent to a pulp and then finish them off. Real did very well in all stages, except the last stage. But isn't creating scoring opportunities the most difficult thing in football?

"Being fired is the last thing on my mind right now," Lopetegui said. As a player from Madrid, Lopetegui knows that nothing is more important than El Clasico. Perhaps Perez also knows: firing a coach right before the big match will only make the situation worse, especially when the players have expressed their faith in their coach.

"We are with Julen until death," said Marcelo. "He has a great relationship with the players. Let Julen do his job." On Perez entering the dressing room immediately after the defeat to Levante, Sergio Ramos said: "I can't tell you what happened in there. The president always comes down there and we talk. It's never a good thing to fire a coach. Everyone has to be calm."

Before taking action, Perez should have looked back at himself. He sold Ronaldo and couldn't keep Zidane. He loaned Mateo Kovacic and didn't bring anyone in to replace him. He did everything to lure Lopetegui during the World Cup, causing Spain to fail miserably in Russia.

Lopetegui is more a victim than a factor in Real's decline. But since Perez can't fire himself, someone else will have to take the blame. Lopetegui, a former Real player and coach, could end up in the same Rafa Benitez situation, where he is saddened by the loss of his former team-mate.

El Clasico will decide that.