World Cup 2018: Sergio Ramos admits Spain sacking Julen Lopetegui on eve of tournament caused instability in squad

SPAIN captain Sergio Ramos has confessed that the firing of head coach Julen Lopetegui on the eve of the World Cup caused instability in the squad.

Ramos made the confession in a heartfelt social media post for his 25 million followers after Spain's elimination to hosts Russia.

The 32-year-old said: "Today our season ends and like anyone else, I am taking stock. Don't think we do not analyse things and we are not aware of our mistakes and successes."

Writing about his season with Spain, Ramos posted: "An immense challenge that we passionately faced with all the energy in the world.

"And when we had not even played the first match something happened that we did not expect.

"I am not going to evaluate the actions or the decisions, but instability is never a good companion.

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"Even though we kept cohesion, the strength of the group, the energy of a group of team-mates and friends the fact is we have dropped off."

The Real Madrid captain added that the Spanish team had left "every last drop of sweat on the pitch" and "could not have done any more".

Ramos will now captain Madrid under Lopetegui who was fired by the Spanish Football Federation on the eve of the World Cup and replaced by Fernando Hierro.

He also provided an evaluation of Real Madrid's season, writing: "With @realmadrid it was a season with lows, that is certainly true, but also one great high.

"In domestic competitions we were unsuccessful, but we conquered Europe winning the @Championsleague for the third year in a row, which was an historic achievement."

On Zinedine Zidane retiring: "Zidane's goodbye was a bitter way to follow it up but everyone is free to make their own decisions. We'll be forever thankful to our coach."