All is not rosy among the Real Madrid garden at the moment as the Spanish heavyweights find themselves, at least results-wise, mired in the worst 30-day period of the club’s entire 116-year history.
As well as suffering an embarrassing 2-1 home defeat against Levante on Saturday and falling down to seventh place in La Liga, in failing to score before the 55th minute, Real set a new and entirely unwanted club record for consecutive minutes (464) without finding the net.
Two days later and amid a slow crescendo of rumours that coach Julen Lopetegui (newly dubbed ‘Julen the Brief’ by the Madrid press) is likely to lose his job very soon, Real’s veteran captain, Sergio Ramos, has been filmed kicking off at a youth team player during a training drill at Valdebebas.
Ramos was visibly irate when Sergio Reguilon attempted a slightly over-zealous challenge on his commanding officer, leading the 32-year-old defender to lash a ball at his 21-year-old teammate from point-blank range.
The shot missed but the tension didn’t dissipate there and then, with Ramos then seen wagging an accusatory finger at Reguilon before petulantly walloping another ball at him, this time finding his target, leading Luka Modric to intervene…
Such a shame to see a much-loved and respected footballing bastion going through the ringer, isn’t it.
Next up? El Clasico.