It’ll be somewhat of an end to an era when Iker Casillas decides to leave Real Madrid, the only club he’s ever played for. Despite getting a match to play once every two weeks at best, his ability doesn’t seem to be affect, which makes it even more frustrating for him to be sitting behind Diego Lopez, hoping Carlo Ancelotti changes his mind.

Casillas isn’t trying to ruin it for Real Madrid or Lopez. He simply wants to play football, and as time goes by, it’s becoming clearer that if he’s to be a starting goalkeeper once again, it’ll be while playing for a different club.

Casillas finds that hard to accept. After so many years, matches and titles with Real Madrid, stepping into a different locker room on a daily basis just doesn’t sound right. However, he can’t just wait out Diego Lopez, hoping he’ll get injured or suddenly fall out of form, because that’s quite unlikely to happen.

Casillas himself wasn’t dropped because he didn’t play well. It was Jose Mourinho who decided it’s time for a chance because of personal reasons. Casillas won back his place but his injury was the final excuse for Mourinho to complete his coup, bring in Lopez and bench Casillas for the rest of the season. The arrival of Carlo Ancelotti didn’t change anything: It only have Casillas a bit more playing time by being respected enough to start for the team in the Champions League.

His performance in the 2-2 draw against Juventus showed once again that Real Madrid have an (still) excellent goalkeeper rotting away on their bench. Pepe Reina already told Casillas during a Spain warm up session that it’s time to go; he deserves more respect. However, it’s not going to come under this regime at Real Madrid, and Casillas is simply forced to make up his mind: Loyalty to a club that doesn’t play him, or looking out for his career, and starting to send feelers to find a new home.

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