Source: Marca

People calling out Lopetegui for the loss are just as braindead as one could be. It's not Lope's fault as much as the players and especially those who were deployed in defense. It felt like the players thought they have won it after Ramos converted that penalty. They forgot like Atletico have some great names in their side that can fight back and that's exactly what happened. When Atletico put efforts to get goal, Real Madrid choked and committed errors & Atletico got goals. That's it the end of story and reason behind the loss.

Besides Atletico played quite opposite to the expectations. The initial idea that comes in mind after hearing Atletico Madrid is the ultra defensive football, harsh physical challenges, parked bus & all but yesterday it was not the case. They came to play some good football, pressed constantly, tried to play from behind, and tried to make things happen when having the ball i.e. they didn't rely on their typical counter attacking football while keeping it low block and sitting in their own half most of the time. Our players underestimated them after they got a one goal lead in the scoreline and paid the price.

Also we are going through a change. We are changing our style of play and we have lost some important players in the mercado. Kovačić was an important player from the bench and his absence was noticed yesterday when Casemiro was taken off for getting injured. Ronaldo's absence was noted when the side lacked motivation and didn't put much effort post the Ramos penalty. But they are gone now and we have to move on. It would be better if we get an experienced versatile central midfielder in the side to replace Kovačić. It would all take time to fit well and we would be winning soon once again.