‘Madrid unhappy with Benitez’

Nacho admits Real Madrid were unhappy under Rafa Benitez and began to relax when Zinedine Zidane came in as Coach.

The defender was speaking to El Laguero with AS reporting his complaints that the team heavily criticised in the media during the previous trainer’s tenure.

“With Benitez it was all a bit unsettled. Nobody was happy and the Press was giving us stick,” he recalled.

“But I learned a lot under him and I played a lot of games. It wasn’t so bad he had to leave, nor were we so bad, but the club made a decision and now we’re good, we’re a team and we needed that.

“Zidane arrived and everything was relaxed and the team started to play better. Zidane is a calm and close Coach, who talks to the players.

“It’s going well at the moment although evaluations should be made at the end of the season.”

Madrid’s season may well be judged on how they fare in the Champions League with Wolfsburg the quarter-final opponents, but there’s the matter of the Clasico immediately after the international break.

“We’re eager to eliminate Wolfsburg. Trophies are demanded at Real Madrid,” Nacho acknowledged.

“It hurts to see Barcelona so far ahead. There are still games left and we’ll go into the Clasico to win. It’s an important game and it’d be nice to win there.”

Nacho recently reached the 50-game landmark for Madrid and revealed what it meant to him, as well as how he sees his future and Spain ambitions.

“There are players in my position with more minutes, but I thank Vicente Del Bosque for his trust in me,” Nacho said regarding La Roja.

“There are still three more months of hard work [before Euro 2016]. Everyone wants to go there and I have to do things well to get there.

“It seems like things go fast as a player. It’s like yesterday when I debuted [for Madrid] and I hope to continue having great times.

“Madrid is everything but I want to play and have regular minutes, and that hasn’t happened.

“I’m not thinking about anything until the end of the season and my dream is to play for Madrid.

“If I leave, the priority would be to play but I’m thinking of Madrid.”

Tags Nacho Rafa Benitez
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