Despite the good feelings of the coach after his meeting with the Real president, the final decision was ultimately to fire the tactician.

The defeat against Levante was the final straw for the coach who steered the side to four consecutive games without winning before the international break and set an unwanted modern club scoring drought record.

The dismissal of Lopetegui is the earliest in a season under Perez, who sacked Rafael Benitez on January 4 and Vanderlei Luxemburgo on December 5.

Patience, in this case, has been exhausted with Lopetegui who in just four months has said goodbye to his two dreams as a coach: leading Spain to a World Cup and coaching Real Madrid.