Madrid, May 17 (AFP): Real Madrid admitted on Monday that their scheduled summer tour of Asia and the United States was in jeopardy after their recent slump in form.

They now look likely to have to play in the Champions League preliminary rounds in July and August for the first time.

“It would be inconvenient,” Real’s director general Jorge Valdano said.

Real were scheduled to spend three days in the US, starting August 1, and play games in Boston and Los Angeles en route to Asia.

Following on from the phenomenal success of their Far East tour last summer — which included games in China, Japan, Hong Kong and Thailand — Real were looking to visit Japan and Hong Kong again, and one other unspecified country.