Manchester United vs Real Madrid: Day one of the Lopetegui era
It was only 67 days ago when Zinedine Zidane and Cristiano Ronaldo celebrated on the Kiev Olympic Stadium pitch having lifted their third consecutive Champions League title for Real Madrid.
Within weeks, both men had abruptly left and the onus is now on Julen Lopetegui to pick up from where they left off.
The new boss, formerly a player at the club and the coach of Castilla, risked his place at the World Cup with Spain to sign on with Los Blancos and ultimately paid the price for mistrust in the eyes of the RFEF.
With that firmly behind him, Lopetegui can now step into the Real Madrid dugout for real and takes on a Manchester United team coached by Jose Mourinho on Tuesday night.
Kicking off at 20:00 in Miami (02:00 CET), this is the first of many early tests that will define where the hopes lie for the new man in charge.
The expectations, as ever, are enormous and when it comes to Real, every result matters, even in pre-season and especially so in the new coach's first game.
Bale's new role
If Lopetegui is taking over from Zidane, Gareth Bale is taking over from Cristiano Ronaldo.
The Welshman has been entrusted with leading the attack for the start of the season and his performances in the United States and the upcoming UEFA Super Cup will be key in determining how the club go about signing a new striker.
That trip to Tallinn represents a fearsome test for Real as Atletico Madrid will be ready to fight for the first of the five titles Los Blancos hope to win in 2018/19.
But first up are United, followed by Juventus and Roma in the US, with Lopetegui hoping to hit the ground running as the coach of Real Madrid.
Barcelona are interested in signing Liverpool goalkeeper Simon Mignolet, according to Sky Sports .
Besiktas made contact with Liverpool over the availability of the Belgium international last week, but according to Sky sources the Turkish club are yet to follow it up with a firm approach.
Barcelona has emerged as another possible for the 30-year-old, who joined Liverpool in 2013 from Sunderland.
Mignolet lost his spot as No 1 at Anfield to Loris Karius last season and has fallen further down the pecking order following the arrival of Alisson from Roma in a world-record £67m deal for a goalkeeper.
Marc-Andre ter Stegen is the current first choice goalkeeper at the Nou Camp, while his understudy Jasper Cillessen could be on the move, according to reports.
The hustle and bustle of Dallas was a world away from the setting enjoyed by Lionel Messi, Sergio Busquets, Gerard Pique and Jordi Alba when returning to Barcelona on Tuesday.
A behind closed doors training session followed a medical check-up for the quartet, who all finished their holidays on Monday having been knocked out of the World Cup at the last-16 stage.
Joined by academy players, they took part in a few ball exercises amidst a fitness heavy workout.
Only Marc-Andre ter Stegen has already started training for the new campaign, of those who played in Russia, with the other Barcelona stars who progressed further into the competition due back progressively over the coming days.
Within weeks, both men had abruptly left and the onus is now on Julen Lopetegui to pick up from where they left off.
The new boss, formerly a player at the club and the coach of Castilla, risked his place at the World Cup with Spain to sign on with Los Blancos and ultimately paid the price for mistrust in the eyes of the RFEF.
With that firmly behind him, Lopetegui can now step into the Real Madrid dugout for real and takes on a Manchester United team coached by Jose Mourinho on Tuesday night.
Kicking off at 20:00 in Miami (02:00 CET), this is the first of many early tests that will define where the hopes lie for the new man in charge.
The expectations, as ever, are enormous and when it comes to Real, every result matters, even in pre-season and especially so in the new coach's first game.
Bale's new role
If Lopetegui is taking over from Zidane, Gareth Bale is taking over from Cristiano Ronaldo.
The Welshman has been entrusted with leading the attack for the start of the season and his performances in the United States and the upcoming UEFA Super Cup will be key in determining how the club go about signing a new striker.
That trip to Tallinn represents a fearsome test for Real as Atletico Madrid will be ready to fight for the first of the five titles Los Blancos hope to win in 2018/19.
But first up are United, followed by Juventus and Roma in the US, with Lopetegui hoping to hit the ground running as the coach of Real Madrid.
Barcelona are interested in signing Liverpool goalkeeper Simon Mignolet, according to Sky Sports .
Besiktas made contact with Liverpool over the availability of the Belgium international last week, but according to Sky sources the Turkish club are yet to follow it up with a firm approach.
Barcelona has emerged as another possible for the 30-year-old, who joined Liverpool in 2013 from Sunderland.
Mignolet lost his spot as No 1 at Anfield to Loris Karius last season and has fallen further down the pecking order following the arrival of Alisson from Roma in a world-record £67m deal for a goalkeeper.
Marc-Andre ter Stegen is the current first choice goalkeeper at the Nou Camp, while his understudy Jasper Cillessen could be on the move, according to reports.
The hustle and bustle of Dallas was a world away from the setting enjoyed by Lionel Messi, Sergio Busquets, Gerard Pique and Jordi Alba when returning to Barcelona on Tuesday.
A behind closed doors training session followed a medical check-up for the quartet, who all finished their holidays on Monday having been knocked out of the World Cup at the last-16 stage.
Joined by academy players, they took part in a few ball exercises amidst a fitness heavy workout.
Only Marc-Andre ter Stegen has already started training for the new campaign, of those who played in Russia, with the other Barcelona stars who progressed further into the competition due back progressively over the coming days.
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