Raphael Varane Says Players Back Julen Lopetegui After Real Madrid's Alaves Loss

Real Madrid defenders Raphael Varane and Alvaro Odriozola have come out in support of manager Julen Lopetegui after the team's 1-0 defeat at the hands of Deportivo Alaves on Saturday.

Los Blancos have failed to win any of their last four matches, but Varane believes it is no time to panic, as bad luck has played a part. Per Marca's Pablo Polo, he said:

"Now we must be united.

"I don't think that we have played badly, but things didn't work out for us and our opponent attacked once and scored.

"We need to have a cool head at this time.

"We are delighted with Julen [Lopetegui] and we are going to work hard for positive results."

Odriozola had a similar message for the fans: 

"It was a painful defeat, but we have to get up and bounce back from it because this is the best club in the world. Work is the only way to reverse this difficult situation, but the players will fight until the death for the coach."

Manu Garcia scored the only goal on Saturday to condemn Real to their second straight defeat after their midweek loss against CSKA Moscow in the UEFA Champions League.

Los Blancos have failed to score in four straight matches under Lopetegui. They also hadn't lost at Alaves in 87 years, per The Spanish Football Podcast:

Just a few months after he was appointed as Zinedine Zidane's replacement, Lopetegui is already under fire. According to Marca's Hugo Cerezo, time is already running out for the tactician entering the international break.

Sportswriter Kiyan Sobhani doesn't like his chances:

The break will give Lopetegui the chance to fix some of the kinks, and at the very least, Los Blancos will have the opportunity to get healthy. Gareth Bale has been banged up of late, Karim Benzema also went off with a knock on Saturday and the team's first-choice full-backs were both absent against Alaves.

Odriozola had a solid outing as Dani Carvajal's replacement, but Nacho remains a less-than-ideal option to replace Marcelo, arguably the best left-back in the world.

Alaves came into the match as one of the best Cinderella stories in European football and took a share of the La Liga lead with the win. Barcelona will have the chance to take sole possession of the top spot on Sunday.

The Catalans will meet Real in the Clasico on October 28. They too have struggled in La Liga of late, failing to win their last three matches in the competition.