Schuster fighting for survival as Real flounder

CRISIS is an overused word in football. But when just five players turn up for training, and the manager is nowhere to be seen, it’s reasonable to assume that something isn’t quite right.

Real Madrid had a reasonable start to their season. After losing their first game they won six out of seven, including the derby against Atletico, but things have gone badly wrong since Juventus beat them in the Champions League four weeks ago. A second defeat by Juventus and a narrow squeak at home to Malaga were followed by humiliation against Real Union in the Copa del Rey.

Cup games don’t matter in Spain, so they say, but 50,000 fans turned up at the Bernabeu last week expecting to watch them overturn a shock 3-2 deficit from the first leg.