Benitez stands by Benzema as a player and a person

“We had not received notification from the federation about the sanction, neither did we hear about it from Villarreal”.

Cadiz president Manolo Vizcaino said after the match that his club would indeed lodge a complaint, albeit “with pain in our hearts, because Madrid is a friend”.

While Rafael Benitez has been under siege virtually since he took over at Real Madrid, he’s managed to avoid all-out war.

He was withdrawn by boss Rafa Benitez early in the second half, being replaced by Mateo Kovacic, after the club were made aware of the error.

“It’s a hard decision because Madrid is the best club, but we have acted at the end of the match”.

“It is not easy – a complicated night”, Butragueno said.

Portuguese centre-back Pepe says they remain behind their under-pressure coach and are working hard to improve results and remain in contention for silverware.

Osasuna were expelled from the competition in a similar scenario when they fielded an ineligible player in their second-round tie against Mirandes.

At a time when Benitez is desperately trying to rediscover the balance of his team after a hard fortnight, there is some logic to before adding in a premier attacking talent.

The victory was sealed 25 minutes from time when Isco did well to chest down a long pass from Casemiro and slot a right-footed finish past Pol Balleste.

Barca’s fine form continued as Sandro Ramirez scored a hat-trick as the Catalans swept aside third-tier Villanovense 6-1 to book their place in the last 16.

Both Ramirez and Munir El Haddadi failed to score in the two months that they shared deputising for Messi whilst the Argentine was sidelined by a knee ligament injury recently. “My aim is for all of them to play well”, said Benitez, who also had words for Karim Benzema, who will face trail in France for his alleged role in a blackmail plot against fellow French worldwide Mathieu Valbuena.