5 reasons why it is too early to start celebrating Real Madrid's return to form

#3 Lopetegui began the same way

Lopetegui started out at Real Madrid impressively

Even though things got so bad in the last month of Lopetegui’s reign that it was easy to believe there was ever any beight light, this is far from the truth as Lopetegui actually enjoyed a good start to life at the Bernabeu.

Just two months ago (seems more like ages), Real Madrid were highflying, and everything seemed to be going well and in the right direction.

After losing his first competitive fixture in the Super Cup to Atletico Madrid, Lopetegui marched on, and led his team to pick up four victories from their next five matches (the only blemish was a 1-1 draw with Athletic Bilbao), including a convincing 3-0 victory over last season’s UCL semi-finalists AS Roma at the Bernabeu, scoring 14 goals and conceding just three.

Benzema was scoring (five in four matches), while Bale was performing well as the talisman of the team, and the praise singers began, and it was opined that this was the best Real Madrid team in years, as they now played with more freedom afforded by the departure of individualistic Ronaldo, and the players could now play to their abilities.

A 1-0 reversal to Espanyol changed the headlines however, and from then on it all started going downhill which culminated in Lopetegui’s sack.

As good as the victories are for Solari’s CV to boost his chances of getting the job permanently, fans would do well to abstain from the sycophancy just yet, as it could prove to be a very brutal case of déjà vu.