The future of Real Madrid boss Jose Mourinho hangs in doubt after he made the shocking decision of benching the Captain and veteran goalkeeper Iker Casillas for Saturday’s match against Malaga, starting with the 25-yr old Antonio Adan instead. The move backfired and cost him three points as Real lost to Malaga 3-2 and Adan was completely overpowered especially in the second half.
Jose Mourinho benches Iker Casillas, raises questions
Reports suggesting strained relationship between Mourinho and his players have already been doing the rounds and this decision has only increased the tension at Santiago Bernabeu. The bold decision taken by the Portuguese did not sit very well even with the players as Madrid defender Sergio Ramos openly said that the move surprised them as Iker’s their Captain. Though, Mourinho defended his decision by saying that the decision was ‘purely technical’ as Adan was in a better form.
The 31-yr old’s disappointment at being dropped was clear from his body language in the dugout as his team failed to make the best of the chances they got and were literally torn apart in the second half.
A hero to the Real fans, Casillas is the captain of the World Champions Spanish national team and is highly respected by all as one of the best goalkeepers. He has been a regular starter for Madrid since the past ten years, starting in 53 out of the last 54 games. He missed out on that one match last season as Real Madrid had already won the title. This was also the first time that Real Madrid had conceded three goals in a league game since the 3-1 defeat to Barcelona last December.
The defending champions have had a poor run so far losing four out of their nine away matches reeling at a lowly third place in the La Liga standings. Their title dreams are almost over as they are 16 points behind leaders Barcelona and just two points ahead of Malaga with Atletico Madrid occupying the second place.
Tags: Barcelona, Football, Iker Casillas, Jose Mourinho, Malaga, Real Madrid
