“We tried to go on the attack but it wasn’t possible”.
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“We wanted to win and then the bigger the difference the better”, he said. “The idea was to use players with experience and quality in a game of this level”.
A chastened Benitez, who took over from Carlo Ancelotti at the end of last season, said he was focusing on picking the players up for Tuesday’s Uefa Champions League Group A game at Shakhtar Donetsk, with Madrid already assured of a place in the knockout round.
The Madrid fans called for President Florentino Perez’s resignation as their humiliation unfolded, but that is only more likely to see the top man at the club turn on Benitez.
Iniesta was granted far too much time and space in the final third and a delicate chipped pass allowed Neymar to spring the offside trap and squeeze the ball under Navas at the near post.
Rafael Benitez played down fears over his job as he looks to ensure Real Madrid bounce back from the 4-0 thrashing against Barcelona.
Real Madrid’s own substitute, Isco, was given a straight red card shortly after Barca’s fourth goal for an bad tackle on Neymar. Benitez said at a news conference. What we need now is to be united, work hard, improve and think about the upcoming game, as well as win the next three points that are up for grabs for us in La Liga to stay in the title race. Barcelona left their eternal rivals’ patch with the three points having scored four goals to no reply. There was a minute of silence in honor of the victims in Paris, and a large French flag was displayed across a few of the lower fan sections as the players lined up at midfield before kickoff.
Barcelona is leading the league table standings with 30 points, while Real Madrid now has 24 after the loss.
Guiding Barcelona to a 4-0 win at Madrid’s ground is a feat in itself, but Iniesta entered the annals of one of football’s most heated rivalries thanks to the respectful ovation at the Santiago Bernabeu.
There was plenty more praise for Barca’s stunning display, with Marca’s Sergi Font hailing Luis Suarez’s “unforgettable” performance which “had the Real Madrid defenders quaking in their boots”.
“I appreciate what the fans did, nothing more”, Iniesta said. And with Gareth Bale, James Rodriguez, Cristiano Ronaldo and Karim Benzema in the line up, there was plenty of optimism around the stadium that Real could get the goals they needed to overcome their freescoring visitors.
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Suarez won the ball back from Modric around the centre circle and found Iniesta, who dribbled forward unchallenged to lay the ball on for Neymar, whose shot bounced off Navas and into the net.
