Lopetegui says Madrid were ‘not clinical enough’
They may be first and second in the La Liga table but as Barcelona and Real Madrid go into the opening week of the Uefa Champions League, both sides have things to work on after failing to convince at the weekend.
Barcelona trailed for much of their game at Real Sociedad on Saturday before goals from Luis Suarez and Ousmane Dembele guided them to a 2-1 triumph to maintain their 100 per record as they made it four wins out of four.
Real Madrid also went behind in their game at Athletic Bilbao, but could only salvage as point in a 1-1 draw as Isco found the net in the second half.
It was the first time Real had failed to win under manager Julen Lopetegui since his appointment in the summer and the result leaves them two points behind of Barcelona.
As they prepare to face PSV Eindhoven tomorrow in the Champions League, Ernesto Valverde, the Barcelona manager, admitted his side were not yet firing on all cylinders.
“I’m not very worried, just a little bit, and there are things we have to improve on,” he said. “We weren’t taking our chances and we lost control of the game and handed them the initiative. La Real are good on the break and they have a very good side.
“It’s not easy to win here and we need to take more risks. I’m not too concerned but we will work to iron out the mistakes.” Meanwhile, Lopetegui conceded Real Madrid were “not clinical enough” against Bilbao and it was something that he and his players needed to work on.
Real, the winners of the Champions League for the past three seasons, are not in action in the tournament until Wednesday when they are at home to Roma.
But their manager believes there is a lot of work to be done. “We were not clinical enough in taking our chances in terms of the game they wanted to play,” he said. “All we were lacking was that final goal. We created a lot of chances and had double the amount of attempts as the opposition.
“We made several changes and we were gradually able to get up to the pace they demand of you. We were the better side in the second half, we got the goal and we could have scored more.”
The high-profile departure of Cristiano Ronaldo has heaped more spotlight on Real’s remaining stars and Lopetegui believes Luka Modric will soon be back at his best. The Croatian is currently readjusting to life in the domestic league after his busy summer, which included leading his country all the way to the World Cup final.
Lopetegui said: “Luka had a tough summer for a number of reasons. He has now had some game time and some training sessions and he’s back with us and ready to have a great season.”
Bilbao coach Eduardo Berizzo hailed his side’s workrate and challenged them to maintain the same drive and intensity in their future LaLiga matches.
Berizzo said: “If we have been able to play like this against Madrid today, then we have to play like this always.
“Our way of playing is demanding. We’re going to need the whole team. Everyone can be chosen at any time and they have to be prepared.”