He had previously signed an agreement to extend his contract with the Spanish national team until the end of the 2020 European Championships and the Spanish Football Federation reacted to the news of his agreement with Madrid by sacking him on the eve of Spain's World Cup campaign and replacing him with Fernando Hierro.

Shortly after Lopetegui's arrival at Madrid, Cristiano Ronaldo left to join Juventus and the club failed to sign a big-name replacement for the Portuguese striker. The only new faces this summer were 18-year-old Vinicius Jr, right back Alvaro Odriozola, goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois and striker Mariano Diaz.

Ronaldo's departure robbed Lopetegui of his side's main source of goals, but it was expected that the loss of the Portuguese forward would promote greater team play allowing Gareth Bale, Marco Asensio and Karim Benzema to take on extra responsibility.

Although Real Madrid lost the European Supercup to Atletico Madrid, early signs were positive as they kicked off the league with an easy win at home to Getafe, scored 4 goals in Girona and 4 more at home to Leganes.

A 3-0 victory against Roma was the high-point of the campaign, but after a narrow win over Espanyol, the goals dried up with the side going 8 hours without hitting the target. Although Marcelo ended the drought nine days ago, his goal was merely a compensation in a 2-1 defeat to Levante, which piled the pressure on Lopetegui.

Tuesday's narrow win over Plzen did nothing to restore his credit, meaning Sunday's match in the Camp Nou would decide Lopetegui's fate in the most emphatic fashion.

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