MADRID: In just months, Julen Lopetegui has lost two of the most high-profile coaching jobs in the world.
Lopetegui was finally fired by Real Madrid on Monday, less than five months after he was sacked by Spain before the World Cup for not telling federation officials he accepted the Madrid job.
The latest axing followed a meeting by the club’s board of directors a day after the team was crushed by Barcelona 5-1 at the Non Camp.
Santiago Solari, coach of Real Madrid B, will take charge for the Copa del Rey match against third-division club Melilla on Wednesday.
Spanish media speculated Solari, a former Real player, was in the running for the permanent job along with former Chelsea manager Antonio Conte and Belgium manager Roberto Martinez.
The firing caps a horrible few months for Lopetegui and is likely to deal a significant setback to his career. After doing well with Spain’s youth teams, he had a lackluster stint with Portuguese club Porto, but gained prominence after revamping Spain and turning them into contenders entering the World Cup.
“I want to thank the club for the opportunity it gave me and the players for their effort,” Lopetegui told the local news agency EFE. “I wish the team the best for the rest of the season.”
Madrid said in a statement they sacked 52-year-old Lopetegui to “change the team’s dynamic while all of its objectives for the season were still reachable.”
The board of directors believed there was a huge difference between the quality of the squad and the results it was achieving. The board noted the team has eight players nominated for the Ballon d’Or award, something unprecedented in the club’s history. They have lost five of their past seven matches.
“We know that results are important for a coach,” Real captain Sergio Ramos said after the Barcelona match.
Lopetegui, who led the team practice on Monday morning, was hired by Madrid to replace Zinedine Zidane, who quit after leading the club to the past three Champions League titles.
Losing el clasico left the capital club ninth in the La Liga table, seven points behind leaders Barcelona. They have not won in five straight league matches, with four losses.
The club had a decent start to the season but things went sour as the squad struggled to produce goals in their first season without Cristiano Ronaldo in nearly a decade. Real didn’t replace the superstar; their only high-profile signing was goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois.
In 14 matches with Lopetegui, Madrid won six, lost six, and drew two.
After the Copa match on Wednesday, Real host Valladolid in the league, and visits Viktoria Plzen in the Champions League.
“We have to move on as soon as possible because there is a lot of season left,” Ramos said.
To make things worse, veteran left back Marcelo is expected to be out for a few weeks because of a muscle injury. Forward Mariano Diaz is also injured and is likely to be out for at least a week.
Solari, aged 42, is a former Argentina midfielder who played for Real Madrid in the early 2000s and helped the team win the 2002 Champions League. He also played for Atletico Madrid and Inter Milan. He has been coaching Real Madrid B since 2016, taking over not long after Zidane left to coach the main squad.
Lopetegui is the second La Liga coach to be fired. The first was Leo Franco of promoted club Huesca, currently last in the 20-team standings.
Real Madrid axe Julen Lopetegui after thrashing at hands of Barcelona
Real Madrid axe Julen Lopetegui after thrashing at hands of Barcelona
- Real give Lopetegui marching orders after poor run of form.
- Former player Santiago Solari to take interim charge at the Bernabeu.
Pakistan face arch-rivals India today in blockbuster T20 World Cup clash in Colombo
- Cricket contest takes place amid surging political tensions between India and Pakistan after their May 2025 clash
- Indian skipper Suryakumar Yadav says team will decide whether or not to shake hands with Pakistani cricketers
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan take on defending champions and arch-rivals India today, Sunday, in Colombo in a highly anticipated T20 World Cup 2026 clash between the two sides.
The Group A fixture between the two sides will not just be important for the on-field cricket action but also because of the political tensions between the neighbors. India and Pakistan engaged in a brief military confrontation in May 2025 which came to a halt after Washington brokered a ceasefire.
However, political tensions spilled over onto the cricket field when Indian skipper Suryakumar Yadav opted out of shaking hands with his Pakistani counterpart before the toss at their Asia Cup encounter last year in September. The Indian team refused to shake hands with their Pakistani counterparts in all three matches of the tournament, triggering a strong protest from Pakistan.
Tensions surged again after Pakistan’s government announced earlier this month it would not allow its team to play against India in the World Cup in solidarity with Bangladesh. The South Asian country was replaced with Scotland after it refused to play its matches in India due to security reasons. Pakistan criticized the move and announced boycotting the Feb. 15 match against India. However, Islamabad later took back its decision to boycott the match after negotiations with the International Cricket Council.
“The game should be played in real spirit, the way it has been played since it started,” Pakistan captain Salman Ali Agha said at the pre-match press conference on Saturday. “The rest is up to them (India), what they want to do.”
Indian skipper Suryakumar Yadav did not commit whether his team will shake hands with Pakistan or not on Sunday.
“Why are you highlighting that?” Yadav asked reporters. “We are here to play cricket. We will play good cricket. We will take all those calls tomorrow. We will see tomorrow.”
Political and military tensions have meant the two teams have not played a bilateral series for years.
India has not traveled to Pakistan since 2008 and Pakistan visited India for the 50-over World Cup in 2023 but has since played ICC tournaments at neutral venues.
India has defeated Pakistan 12 times in the 16 T20 games they have played. They also have an impressive 6-1 record in the eight T20 World Cup matches since the first edition in 2007, with one being tied.
“We don’t have a good record against them in World Cups,” Agha admitted. “But whenever you come to play a new match, it’s a new day and you have to play good cricket to win.
“You can’t change history. You can learn from it. We learned from it and we’ll try to do a good performance tomorrow and win the match.”
Both sides have won their two fixtures so far, with India beating the USA and Namibia while Pakistan have defeated the Netherlands and the USA as well.
The top two teams from each group will qualify for the Super Eight stage of the World Cup.
The match is scheduled to begin at 6:30 p.m. Pakistan Standard Time.
