5 reasons why Julen Lopetegui was destined to suffer as Real Madrid coach

#1 The team lacks squad depth

FC Barcelona v Real Madrid CF - LaLiga

For all the brilliance of the Real Madrid first eleven, beyond them, there are not too many options left to the manager.

Sergio Ramos, Luka Modric, Gareth Bale, Toni Kroos and Marcelo to name a few are all among the best in their respective positions, but in the event that they are having a bad day or season (which they all are with the exception of Marcelo), there are limited options for Lopetegui on the bench.

It is widely known that strong benches are necessary in football, as quality additions off the bench are needed to keep the starters constantly on their toes and offer the coach an alternative when there is the need to make an in-game tactical twitch.

This is not more evident than at Manchester City who unarguably have the largest squad depth, as there is a quality backup in each position of the team, and Guardiola can try out multiple systems or bench an underperforming starter.

Also at the camp of eternal rivals Barcelona, this came in handy during a rough patch earlier in the season as Valverde was able to call on the services of Lenglet and Arthur from the bench, and experienced a massive upturn in their fortunes.

Real Madrid was once like that, and in 2016/2017 had an abundance of talent on the bench, and Zidane could call on the services of Asensio, Morata, Isco and James Rodriguez which helped turn the tide in numerous matches to Real Madrid's favour. It, therefore, came as no surprise that the club triumphed in LaLiga that season.

Most of those squad players have departed, and they were largely unreplaced, or replaced by substandard players, with the result being that Lopetegui has just its first eleven and not much else to look to in turning results, and this is never an ideal situation to be in for any coach.