Real Madrid manager Rafa Benitez has described Saturday’s 4-0 thrashing by Barcelona as “painful”, saying he expected his players to perform better than they did.
According to Benitez, his players “started the game well and have enough quality to do better than they did”.
The former Napoli manager refused to admit committing tactical blunders especially in his starting attacking trio of Karim Benzema, Gareth Bale and Cristiano Ronaldo, but said “Looking at it after the game, obviously things didn’t go well.”
Except for Ronaldo, the other two members of the three-pronged attack were expected to have been introduced later in the game for fitness reasons.
While Bale was coming from an injury-induced lay-off, Benzema’s off-the-pitch situation with the Valbuena blackmail issue ensured he was not in the right psychological mind for one of the most watched games in modern-day football.
“I try to manage the group I have in the best possible way,” Benitez said.
Benitez also said he believed his team faced a good team in Barcelona, who have opened up a 6-point gap between them at the top of the La Liga table.
“It’s painful for us to lose, and to lose the way we did. What we need to do now is close ranks and work hard. What I’m concerned about is restoring the team’s morale quickly.
“We faced a good team, we made mistakes and we paid for them. We gave the ball away and that hurts you. We had the Marcelo chance early on in the second half. If that had gone in, we would have got back into the game,” Benitez stated.
However, Benitez believes that, despite a 6-point disadvantage, the club’s season is not over.
“What we have to do now is bounce back as quickly as possible. There’s a long way to go yet,” he stressed.