El Clasico defeat shatters Real Madrid Coach, Benitez

Rafa Benitez

Real Madrid Coach, Rafa Benitez, has been left shattered after suffering a humiliating 0-4 defeat in the first installment of the El Clasico this season.
Saturday’s outing at the Santiago Bernabeu was the first El Clasico outing for Benitez, but the Spaniard failed the test woefully.

Speaking with AS after his side’s defeat, Benitez said he will accept partial responsibility for the defeat adding that the players have to take some blame too.
“I try to manage my group the best I can. In this case the players have enough quality to do better,” he told AS,
“In the end we are all responsible and we must look for a solution as a group and to give joy to the fans.
“I think in the opening minutes of the second half we went forward and had chances. It’s not the time to analyse individual mistakes. We must reflect, be together.
“We made mistakes and we paid against a team that has top quality. We lost the ball against the opposition. It’s important to recover as a group.
“We wanted to push forward, to attack, to get the ball forward and we paid for not recovering. We wanted to use players with personality but it hasn’t gone well.
“Our idea was to squeeze possession and to take advantage of having players with experience.
Benitez elaborated on the chances his side had after the break, pointing to one in particular as crucial to how the game developed.
“It’s not a question of attitude. We talked about improving at half time. We faced a good team. The chance for Marcelo was a key point. If that had been a goal, we could have gotten into the game. We paid for our mistakes and it was increasingly difficult.
“Whenever we win or lose we are all part of it and obviously it hurts a lot to lose and to lose this way. I worry about the team recovering emotionally for the next game.”
With Saturday’s defeat, Real Madrid are now six points adrift of their bitter rivals Barcelona.