It is a scenario few could have foreseen after Real won a Liga and Champions League double last term and began this season so convincingly.
Gene, 30, has been employed in the same role with BMW-powered Williams for the past four years.
A summary of sports events and sports persons, who made news on Friday
Barca are top on 72 points, Real have 66 and Sevilla, who lost 1-0 at home to Osasuna on Saturday, are a distant third on 52.
News of all that transpired on and off the football field.
Barcelona shook off the disappointment of their Champions League defeat by Chelsea to extend their lead in the Primera Liga to 11 points with a 2-0 defeat of Athletic Bilbao.
Manchester United said they would be prepared to accept a conditional transfer bid from the Catalan giants.
'You realise the fear when Barcelona could get knocked out. It would hurt UEFA a lot. I don't know what they have to do for someone to send one of them off'
France international Dembele scored 10 goals and provided 20 assists in all competitions to help Dortmund finish third in the Bundesliga last season. The team also won the German Cup.
The centre-back was at the Madrid Open earlier this week, reportedly to discuss a 16-team knockout tournament with ATP Tour chief Chris Kermode. It would potentially replace the former World Team Cup event on the ATP calendar that was played from 1975 to 2012 ahead of Roland Garros.
Pep Guardiola will return to the Nou Camp in the Champions League group stage after his new club Manchester City were drawn against his former Barcelona team on Thursday. The two sides were drawn in Group C alongside Borussia Moenchengladbach and former European champions Celtic in one of the toughest of the eight sections. Spanish coach Guardiola, who won the Champions League twice with Barca, faced the Catalans when he was in charge of Bayern Munich two seasons ago and suffered a 5-3 defeat in the semi-finals.
Barcelona closed in on the La Liga title after beating 10-man Atletico Madrid 2-0 in Saturday's top-of-the-table showdown at the Nou Camp as late strikes by Luis Suarez and Lionel Messi gave the Catalans an 11-point lead at the top of the table.
Barca must beat Villareal on the weekend if they are to stand a chance of overhauling Real in the run in.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
Sevilla became surprise Liga leaders on Sunday after beating visiting Celta Viga 2-1 while champions Barcelona drew 1-1 at Valencia thanks to another Lionel Messi strike but are still without a victory in their last four league games.
Barcelona forward Lionel Messi will be out for between six and eight weeks with a hamstring injury, the La Liga leaders said on Monday.
Champions Barcelona moved five points clear at the top of La Liga with a 2-1 win at Getafe, while Real Madrid fell to a 2-0 defeat by Real Sociedad.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
World rapid champion Viswanathan Anand played out an easy draw with world No 1 Magnus Carlsen of Norway in the ninth round of the Tata Steel Masters in Wijk Aan Zee, the Netherlands. Settling for his sixth draw in nine games, Anand took his tally to five points and remains joint-sixth in the 14 players, 13-round tournament.
The Catalan club is also close to reaching a deal to sign Sporting Lisbon's highly rated young winger Ricardo Quaresma.
Winning the treble last season has spurred Barcelona to try and win all six trophies up for grabs this year and replicate the feat they achieved in 2009, midfielder Andres Iniesta said on Monday.
A summary of sports stories from across the globe
Philippe Coutinho's versatility makes him a great acquisition for Barcelona, coach Ernesto Valverde said on Sunday as the Brazilian made his first public appearance at the Nou Camp following his 142-million-pound ($192.57-million) move from Liverpool.
Juventus progressed to the Champions League last 16 after a Cristiano Ronaldo goal and a late header from substitute Alvaro Morata gave them a comeback 2-1 home win over Hungarians Ferencvaros on Tuesday.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
The Brazilian World Cup winner tore a muscle in his right thigh and will almost certainly miss Barcelona's clash with arch rivals Real Madrid.
The Barcelona forward will miss Brazil's WC qualifiers against Peru and Uruguay due to a torn thigh muscle in his right leg.
'Cristiano scored 50 goals and you can't find someone today who scores that many. Some of us have to take a step forward and, while not scoring 50, what we need is two or three players who score 15, 20, or 10 goals and we don't have that.'
Messi, who has struggled for form in recent weeks due to a niggling injury, looked on a mission to grab the winner and after twice coming close he completed his treble to put Barca ahead in the 85th minute, reacting quickly to a poor Sevilla clearance to dink the ball over goalkeeper Tomas Vaclik.
Three of Europe's biggest football clubs -- Barcelona, Manchester United and Juventus -- are teaming up for a pre-season tour of the United States to open new marketing opportunities and promote the sport there, the Spanish club said on Monday.
Two goalkeeping blunders from Ricardo Gonzalez gifted a below-par Mexico a 2-0 victory over Costa Rica.
Real Zaragoza went into the semi-finals of the King's Cup, drawing the second leg 1-1 to clinch a 2-1 aggregate victory.
'I haven't lost any strength in the last four days and in one sense I feel a little relieved but focused on the objectives we set for ourselves at the start of the season'
Manchester City cannot afford another defeat on Tuesday at home to Barcelona, who thumped them 4-0 two weeks ago, having taken just one point from their last two Champions League Group C matches.
