Despite failing to land the Primera Liga title last season, Carlo Ancelotti’s Real Madrid played scintillating football and scored plenty of goals. When Rafa Benitez was appointed as the Italian’s successor, many fans and pundits were underwhelmed, with reactions ranging from apathy, through scepticism all the way to outright hostility.
However, the undemonstrative Benitez, a native of the Spanish capital, went quietly about remodelling his squad during the close season and, since the campaign began, results have been good, if largely unspectacular. Undefeated in their first 10 games in La Liga, Los Blancos trailed Barcelona by just a single point and were progressing as expected in the Champions League.
Last Sunday’s defeat at Sevilla, however, has cast matters in a whole new light. There has been renewed criticism of the Coach’s tactics at Santiago Bernabeu and, with Cristiano Ronaldo palpably misfiring, reports of a dysfunctional relationship between Benitez and his star striker have predictably resurfaced.
While it is true that Madrid delivered a below-par performance in the loss at Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan, not helped by the early loss of Sergio Ramos, enormous credit is due to Unai Emery’s Sevilla side, who recovered well from going a goal down and have now registered home victories over both Barcelona and Real Madrid.
Gareth Bale’s return to the starting line-up after injury should have been a boost for Los Blancos, but Benitez elected to play the Welshman in the central striking role previously occupied by Ronaldo in in the absence of Karim Benzema in the Coach’s favoured 4-2-3-1 formation.
Madrid’s shape often morphed into 4-3-3 at Sevilla, leaving Isco on the right with Ronaldo in his preferred left-sided position and Bale as a false 9. The old tensions between Bale and Ronaldo soon returned, with neither player looking comfortable as Madrid squandered chances to get back into the game after the home side had taken a deserved 3-1 lead.
Ronaldo, who had barely a sniff of goal at Sevilla, is said to be deeply unhappy with the way he perceives his role at the club to have changed under Benitez, but seasoned Ronaldo-watchers will know that the Portuguese tends to express his dissatisfaction with life at the Bernabeu on a regular basis. He did so under Jose Mourinho and again last season under Ancelotti, when he still managed 48 goals in La Liga.
Sunday’s defeat was not the first occasion Benitez and Los Blancos have attracted criticism for what some see as the Coach’s negativity. After a 1-1 draw with city rivals Atletico Madrid at Vicente Calderon last month, Benitez was accused of parking the bus after taking a ninth-minute lead and paying the price as Atleti levelled late on.
In reality, Madrid’s second place standing just three points behind Barcelona after 11 games is not so dissimilar to the same stage last season. A year ago, Ancelotti’s side led the Catalans by two points and had already been beaten twice – away at Real Sociedad and at home against Atletico – but had amassed 42 goals, compared with the 26 they have notched to date.
It is often said that a sound defence is an essential foundation for success and, while Benitez has received much criticism for his ‘boring’ and ‘negative’ playing style and tactics, his side has the best defensive record in any of the top European Leagues this season, with just seven goals conceded, four fewer than this time a year ago.
Benitez led a Napoli side that scored 104 goals in all competitions last season, yet many Madrid fans will never warm to a man they accuse of just not being bold enough to espouse the club’s attacking style or big enough to defend its rich history. Whatever his record and whatever the Benitez legacy turns out to be, it seems his reputation will always carry greater weight.
