Real Madrid coach Julen Lopetegui admits he didn't get the chance to speak with Cristiano Ronaldo before his departure for Juventus.

Despite replacing Zinedine Zidane before the World Cup, Lopetegui concedes he never spoke with Ronaldo.

He recalled: "I did not speak with him, when I arrived he had already shown his interest in leaving clearly and the club, for the player he has been for the team, wanted to facilitate.

"I respected the strategy that was already being taken."

Lopetegui admits a World Cup year made his preseason complicated.

"You start working and you want to transmit your game idea, we did it little by little, as the players were arriving. To implant or change things in a team always costs, it takes a while to catch the automatisms, it's normal ... but we try to do it naturally and adapting to the player's conditions."