Julen Lopetegui's sacking as Real Madrid coach was not surprising to anyone, given the poor form shown by the team since he took over as their manager. What really stood out was the amount of backlash generated by Real Madrid's press release informing about the coach's exit, since experts and colleagues of the departed boss felt as if Los Blancos' hierarchy pinned all the failure from the season on Lopetegui,
On that matter, Barcelona's coach offered his support to Lopetegui during today's press conference. Ernesto Valverde admitted being baffled after the decision was made public, even hinting that he felt a bit of guilt for his colleague's fate.
"I don't want to speak about that press release, but I really feel that no coach should have been fired under those circumstances," Valverde said.
The former Athletic boss does not want to rule out a comeback by Real Madrid this season, since there are still a lot of games to be played.
"It doesn't matter if their form in La Liga hasn't been the best. There is still a lot of ground to cover. Furthermore, you can't talk about a transition year at Real Madrid, they are forced to solve their problems, just like we are when there is one. I'm sure they will keep fighting for all the titles in hand," Valverde added.
The Basque boss went on to talk about Lopetegui's successor, Santiago Solari.
"I don't know if Real Madrid will be more dangerous, but we will have to keep an eye on them. As I said before, they are still one of the best teams out there, they surely can will all the titles they are playing for this season," Valverde concluded.
