Julen Lopetegui appears to be settling into life at Real Madrid well after a shaky start, and he will have delighted supporters when asked about coaching Barcelona this week.
The 52-year-old had a disappointing start after losing to city rivals Atletico Madrid in their UEFA Super Cup clash last month, with question marks raised over his ability to extend the club’s glittering recent record of winning trophies.
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However, after collecting maximum points from their first three La Liga games, scoring 10 goals while conceding just two, it appears as though the Spanish tactician and his players are beginning to settle now and will be ready to compete on multiple fronts this season.
It all comes after losing talisman Cristiano Ronaldo to Juventus earlier this summer, and so the pressure is certainly on to continue the impressive work done by predecessor Zinedine Zidane.
That assignment aside, Lopetegui has given the perfect answer when questioned on whether or not he would ever coach Barcelona in the future.
“I’m already training the best team in the world,” he said to Cadena SER, as per Marca.
Lopetegui does have history at the Nou Camp as he played for the Catalan giants between 1994 and 1997, having previously plied his trade at Real Madrid.
Nevertheless, he has a major job and a privileged position currently, and so it’s no surprise that he would dismiss the notion of coaching their bitter rivals out of hand.
Naturally, it won’t do any possible future hopes of coaching Barcelona any good, but dealing with the present, the Spaniard will be fully focused on plotting their downfall and wrestling the La Liga title away from them this season.