Real Madrid have endured a turbulent time on and off the field since beating Liverpool in last season’s Champions League final.
Here, Press Association Sport looks at their timeline of woe.
May 31: Five days after victory in Kiev, Zinedine Zidane, having guided the club to three successive Champions League titles, announces he is standing down.
July 10: Five-time world player of the year Cristiano Ronaldo, scorer of a remarkable 450 goals in 438 appearances for Real, quits the Bernabeu for Juventus in a deal worth around £100million.
September 15: After opening their LaLiga campaign with three successive wins, Real drop their first points of the season as they require an Isco equaliser to claim a 1-1 draw at Athletic Bilbao.
September 26: Real’s season takes a dramatic downturn as they are thrashed 3-0 at Sevilla, the start of a dismal run of five defeats in seven games in all competitions.
A famous night in Nervión.
Read the match report here ➡️ https://t.co/RQz9PiPDPZ#SevillaFCRealMadrid #vamosmisevilla#WeNeverSurrender ?❤️ pic.twitter.com/8FUQuTRKQg
— Sevilla FC (@SevillaFC_ENG) September 26, 2018
October 6: A 1-0 defeat at Alaves sees Real fail to score for a fourth successive game.
October 20: Real are beaten 2-1 at home by Levante and reports begin to circulate that Lopetegui is facing the sack.
November 24: After overseeing four successive wins as caretaker boss, Lopetegui’s replacement Santiago Solari suffers a 3-0 defeat at Eibar in his first match in permanent charge.
December 12: Real suffer their heaviest home defeat in Europe as they are beaten 3-0 by CSKA Moscow in the Champions League. They still progressed to the last 16 as group winners, however.
