Cristiano Ronaldo: Real Madrid BLASTED over ‘historic mistake’ for Julen Lopetegui exit

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REAL MADRID’s sacking of Julen Lopetegui was a product of the club’s summer sale of Cristiano Ronaldo.

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That’s the verdict of former club president Ramon Calderon, who blames Florentino Perez for their current predicament.

Lopetegui was relieved of his duties yesterday after a dreadful recent run which included five defeats in their last eight games.

During that streak, Real went on a new club-record 481-minute run without scoring a goal.

A 5-1 defeat to Clasico rivals Barcelona at the Nou Camp at the weekend was the final straw with Lopetegui’s demise confirmed yesterday.

His Bernabeu exit comes less than five months after he was sacked as the manager of the Spain national team days before the World Cup having failed to tell them of his plans to take over at Real Madrid.

But Calderon – who was president of the club between 2006 and 2009 – thinks that current chief Perez must take the blame for Madrid’s struggles.

That’s after all-time top goalscorer Ronaldo was allowed to end a nine-year stay with Real in July to join Juventus in an £88.8million deal.

Despite links to possible replacements such as Eden Hazard, Neymar and Kylian Mbappe, Los Bancos opted not to recruit a high-profile successor to their star man – only bringing Mariano Diaz back from Lyon for around £30m.

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And Calderon sees that as a critical error on the club’s part – insisting Lopetegui is not the one to blame for Real’s worst start to a season in almost a decade.

“Unfortunately it’s another of the president’s whims,” Calderon said.

“If he was the right man in June, only four months ago, he cannot be unfit now.

“He signed him just two days before the World Cup started, so damaging our national team and now he’s sacking him.

“I that’s the problem, I think he [Lopetegui] is not the one to be blamed.

“That has been the main trouble, to transfer Cristiano in June has been a historic mistake and we are paying for that now.”

Real Madrid Castilla boss Santiago Solari will take temporary charge of the club’s first team with Antonio Conte tipped to take over.

Due to Spanish Football Federation stipulations, Madrid must appoint a new permanent boss within two weeks – offering Solari a potential four-game stint to prove himself.

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