Real Madrid to sack Benitez, say reports

Benitez was brought in to add discipline to the Madrid dressing room after club president Florentino Perez believed his popular predecessor Carlo Ancelotti’s soft touch was to blame for a trophyless 2015.

Real Madrid head coach Rafael Benitez on Sunday comes back to the football ground where he enjoyed some of his greatest triumphs with the aim of saving his current job.

“We put in a good game”, Benitez said.

Real Madrid is third in the Spanish league, four points behind leader Atletico Madrid and two behind Barcelona, which has a game in hand.

Barcelona, who recently drew with Espanyol on Saturday opened up the opportunity for Real Madrid to surpass them, however, Los Blancos failed to capitalize on the situation.

The incident is just the latest off-field embarrassment for Madrid with striker Karim Benzema facing an official investigation in his native France for charges relating to a blackmail attempt on worldwide teammate Mathieu Valbuena.

Benitez’s side twice led at the Mestalla but were pegged back both times and also had Mateo Kovacic sent off in an eventful Primera Division clash. The result extended Madrid’s winless run away from the Santiago Bernabeu to three matches, but Benitez said he was pleased with what he saw from his players.

There has been talk of a possible return for Jose Mourinho, while Zinedine Zidane has also been linked with the job, and that is only likely to intensify if Benitez is sacked. “What I care about is whether we will be able play well”.

He does, however, lack any top-level experience, having only been granted his UEFA Pro Licence badge last season, having served a three-month ban from the Spanish FA for coaching’s Real’s reserve side before gaining the necessary qualification.

“I think you’re missing the point slightly”.

“You have all our confidence and support so our fans can be excited and entertained in every match”, Perez told Zidane, who won the World Cup and European Championship as a player. “But I can make sure that the team works the way it did today”.

Valencia had a glorious chance to level just past the 30-minute mark when Rodrigo de Paul found the head of Joao Cancelo with a super cross, but the Portuguese fired his header wide of the post from close range.