The undercurrent of pressure on manager Rafa Benitez has already reared it’s impatient head as Real Madrid were held to a 1-1 draw at the Vicente Calderon. It is what happens when someone has a book to sell. If you’re lucky enough to support Los Blancos then your football existence will be mostly be filled with trophies, celebration, large winning margins and expensive transfer purchases.
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The French forward said that he was “fed up” with Benitez’s policy of subbing him, but the Spaniard insists that the morale at Real is high.
Benitez has also claimed he tried to sign Gareth Bale during his time as Liverpool boss.
“[Jamie] Carragher has made the mistake of saying I preferred [John Arne] Riise, but it wasn’t like that”.
But Allardyce, in his new autobiography “Big Sam”, wrote: “Of course he can say he won the Champions League with Liverpool, which is something I never did”.
It is understood that Benitez asked Bale to tell Ronaldo exactly this in a face-to-face conversation once they return from national team duty.
In Corriere dello Sport Inter goalkeeper Samir Handanovic has laid down the gauntlet to his opposite number Gianluigi Buffon: ‘Buffon, I challenge you, ‘ reads the headline on the front page.
However, the pair soon buried the hatchet, and Benitez reiterated there were no problems in his dressing room.
“I am 30 and I want to play five or six more years, and in these years I want to do well and try and keep the level of recent seasons”.
Benitez also stated that he and the club have “zero problems” with captain Sergio Ramos despite rumours of a rift between the two. “I feel good here (at Real Madrid), I feel useful here and I want that to carry on”.
Speaking to Marca, he said, “I want to win more”.
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Benitez criticized Ramos over his challenge that led to a penalty for Atletico Madrid, with Ramos hitting back by questioning Benitez’s substitutions at half-time.
