Rafael Benitez has revealed the complications that come with being Real Madrid manager, explaining how big-name stars such as Cristiano Ronaldo contributed to his downfall in charge of the Spanish giants.
Benitez took charge of the club in 2015, replacing Carlo Ancelotti meaning that he had big shoes to fill with Real having won the Champions League a year earlier under the Italian. However, he lasted just a few months in the role despite winning 17 of his 25 matches in charge with supporter unrest and dressing room tensions the reason for his downfall.
Benitez was replaced by Zinedine Zidane, who took the club to the Champions League title following the sacking of Spaniard in January the following year. They beat Atletico Madrid in the final that season on penalties to win their eleventh European Cup and the first of three successive triumphs under the management of Zidane.
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However, despite, their vindication in their decision to sack Benitez in the form of trophies, the ex-Liverpool boss has spoken out about the decision saying that he was facing a losing battle amid tricky circumstances in Madrid. In particular, he cited the management of former Manchester United forward Ronaldo and other players as being a problem which spread throughout the squad.
He revealed his version of events, quoted by Spanish radio station Cadena SER, saying: "When we arrived in Madrid, Ancelotti had just left, he had a very good relationship with the players, and it seemed that we arrived with a whip.
"There was an unfavourable environment: the departure of [Iker] Casillas, Keylor Navas, the arrest of [Karim] Benzema... There are complicated situations. And when everything gets complicated, who pays? Me." Benitez added.
"Cristiano, knowing what he was like, you had to guide him. The problem is when you have to guide seven, some of them don't play, they're not happy. And they go to the media to leak it."
It was claimed in the media that Benitez favoured Gareth Bale over Ronaldo at Madrid, but the former manager refutes those claimes, describing them as 'lies'. "It's another lie," he said.
"He [Bale] plays with Wales, he catches me next door when I'm in England, it's common sense. It's another idiocy that they said at the time. They [the media] sharpened nonsense like that.
"The only comment I made to Cristiano Ronaldo, as I knew him from Manchester United, is that we analyse how he was shooting free-kicks. We looked at the trajectory, see if we can make any adjustments, saw we couldn't and forgot about it."
Following his time in Madrid, Benitez enjoyed a successful spell with Newcastle United before moving to China for a stint at Dalian Professional before returning to England to take charge of Everton in what proved a difficult venture for him.
Ronaldo now plays for Al-Nassr in Saudi Arabia. The Portugal international left United last year after a controversial interview with Piers Morgan in which he criticised several elements of the club.
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