5 reasons why Julen Lopetegui shouldn't have accepted the Real Madrid job

#2 The impending departure of Ronaldo

Ronaldo gave a hint of his departure during Real Madrid's title celebrations

Cristiano Ronaldo's story at Real Madrid is well documented, and his status as one of the greatest players in the history of football means that it is every coach’s dream to coach a team with him, as all that needs to be done is revolve the team around Ronaldo, and trophies are guaranteed to be won.

Lopetegui’s father recently came out in defense of his son by stating that they stole 50 goals from him (through Ronaldo’s departure), and failed to replace him, thereby setting him up for failure. There is a lot of truth to this, as Ronaldo’s presence in the Real Madrid squad helped mask a lot of the team’s deficiencies and his departure laid them bare for all to see.

As at the time of Lopetegui’s appointment, Ronaldo was still a Real Madrid player, and even though he had not officially departed, there were strong indications that he would, with a reported breakdown in relationship with Perez and more pointedly his statements in the immediate aftermath of Real Madrid’s Champions League triumph key indicators of this.

Lopetegui should have pressed on for guarantees of Ronaldo’s stay, or strong pursuits of replacements, failing which he should not have signed, but he did neither of this and effectively dug his own grave with his hands.