Call it what you want, but football sometimes can be a game of really fine margins. So fine that one slip up at dire times could mean the end of a manager’s job or a player’s glittering career.
Former Chelsea boss Antonio Conte serves as a lesson to the football world. He got sacked two seasons after winning the Premier League and the FA Cup. That shows you how big the club game has become – no proper team would risk having an outdated manager, even if the manager had just won the treble in the previous season.
You underperform, you go.
Such is the case with former Spain boss, now at Real Madrid Julien Lopetegui. Sitting a distant fourth in the latest La Liga standings after eight games, Lopetegui is facing mounting pressure over his future at Los Blancos. Real Madrid have failed to score a goal in their last four games – would you believe that?
According to several English news outlets, Real Madrid chiefs contacted none other than Conte during the international break.
Conte, who is still entangled in a legal fight with Chelsea over his dismissal could be the man to replace Lopetegui if the latter does not turn things around in the coming weeks.
Mirror reports Conte could give up on the battle with Chelsea if he is offered the job at Madrid.
The Galacticos face Levante during the weekend in La Liga before travelling to Viktoria Plzen in the Champions League.
These matches might as well be regarded as ‘career-defining’ for Lopetegui.