Benitez faces pressure from within his own squad after reports emerged of an unhappy Cristiano Ronaldo telling his team-mates that either “he [Benitez] goes, or I go”.
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Barca’s victory on Saturday put them six points clear of Real at the top and Atletico Madrid leapfrogged their city rivals into second thanks to Sunday’s 1-0 win at Real Betis. But we must let him work – not listen to those making up lies that board doesn’t want him, or the players don’t want him. Rafa has all our support and all our confidence.
Spanish football expert Guillem Balague had earlier told Sky Sports News he believed Perez would offer his support to Benitez, but after the vote of confidence, Balague questioned whether it was as concrete as it might have sounded, given the lack of long-term guarantees.
As for Madrid’s reportedly disgruntled star forward, Ancelotti added: “I spoke with Ronaldo last week, he never said he had a bad relationship with the coach”.
But Perez said: “I don’t know if you are capable of being sure that you’re going to still be working where you work now in a few weeks’ time”.
“Since I arrived in 2000 there have been a lot of coaches and none have ever said that I have suggested anything to them”, he told reporters.
Suarez and Neymar ensured Barcelona did not miss the Argentine too much during his two months out, scoring 19 Barca La Liga goals in a row between them before Iniesta’s Bernabeu strike.
Reports emerged prior to Saturday’s match that Benitez, who joined in June after resigning from Napoli, would be replaced by club legend Zinedine Zidane should he lose El Clasico.
Barcelona was the superior squad from start to finish while Real Madrid have now lost their second consecutive league game. “Thinking about La Liga, there is still a long way to go and we need to do things as we were doing them when we were undefeated”.
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Carlo Ancelotti says his successor Rafael Benitez deserves patience at Real Madrid but stated that he would be open to re-joining the Spanish giants. These stories are here only to destabilise us, and it’s so easy to call me and check those things.
