Zidane is ready for Madrid job – Ancelotti

“I am with Castilla and if I stay at the club it is to coach Castilla”.

Afterwards local media reports claimed senior Madrid players including the Portuguese attacker were fed up with Benitez’s managerial style, and there was further speculation that reserve coach Zinedine Zidane was standing by to take over the first team. “I still have a long way to go”. The former Madrid manager was speaking to RAI Radio in Italy.

However, former president Ramon Calderon does not think Benitez will be sacked.

“We need to win again as soon as possible”. “Things are fine at the moment”, insisted Zidane.

Benitez added: “These two defeats don’t change the sensation that we have in the team – that we are learning and growing”. It drew at Atletico Madrid 1-1, then won the next three matches by at least two goals.

Real Madrid president Florentino Perez has called a news conference for Monday, at which he is expected to address the fallout from the Clasico thrashing at the hands of Barcelona on Saturday. “We chose Rafa with the confidence he could turn it round because he works non-stop day and night”. There will be an element of revenge here as well as Shakhtar struggled in the opening games of the group and have left themselves in too big a hole to really qualify. “No one can say what will happen in six months”.

“Ronaldo has never said anything to me about Benitez”, he said.

Perez, in his second stint in charge of the club he has transformed into the world’s richest by income, has been blamed for Real’s woes due to a perception he interferes in team selection.

Futher more, Paris Saint Germain’s Zlatan Ibrahimovic, 34, is expected to leave at the end of the season, a move that would free up resources to acquire Ronaldo’s services.

Ibrahimovic, 34, earns around £220,000-a-week after tax and PSG are ready to go even higher to get Ronaldo. We have to be self-critical and look for solutions at home and not outside.

Benitez replaced Carlo Ancelotti in the Real Madrid dugout last summer, but the Italian was popular among the players after winning the Champions League with them in 2014.

The points will not mean much because Madrid is already through to the next round, but the game certainly will still be crucial for Benitez.