Antonio Conte 'boards flight, will replace Julen Lopetegui on Monday'
ANTONIO CONTE is on his way to replace Julen Lopetegui and take charge of Real Madrid, according to reports in Spain.
Posted Monday, October 29, 2018 by Express.co.uk
Real Madrid news: Antonio Conte is set to take over at the Bernabeu
Florentino Perez's patience has been wearing thin after Real Madrid went five matches without a win.
The dreadful stretch of form was ended in unconvincing fashion in midweek as holders edged past Viktoria Plzen in the Champions League.
The Galacticos have struggled to replace the huge void left by Cristiano Ronaldo who joined Juventus for £88m in the summer.
The Czech champions had there fair share of chances and the victory was perhaps just papering over the cracks at the Bernabeu.
Julen Lopetegui's side were thumped 5-1 by Barcelona in El Clasico at Camp Nou.
Luis Suarez scored a hat-trick while Philippe Coutinho and Arturo Vidal were also on target.
According to Spanish newspaper Marca, this was the final straw and has pushed Perez over the edge.
Guillem Balague confirmed Conte is heading back to London from Egypt where he has been on holiday.
The Italian will then arrive in Madrid and take over from Lopetegui who will be sacked on Monday, according to Marca.
Conte was sounded out by Perez in the summer but declined the offer to replace Zinedine Zidane as he wanted a break from football.
The 49-year-old won the Premier League title in his first season as Chelsea boss before winning the FA Cup last season.
He departed Stamford Bridge in strange circumstances with Maurizio Sarri appointed manager shortly after he had been formally relieved of his duties.
Real Madrid Castilla boss Santiago Solari could take temporary charge of Wednesday's Copa del Rey game against Melilla.
Perez left the Nou Camp as soon as the final whistle blew and did not speak with any of the players or the manager.
Real Madrid currently sit ninth in the La Liga table, which may have effectively already knocked them out of the title race.
The defeat leaves them seven points behind leaders Barcelona who now appear to have come out the other side of a major sticky patch themselves.
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