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Sport

22nd Nov 2015

Clasico catastrophe will ‘probably’ cost Rafa Benitez his job, says Guillem Balague

Swift axe

Gareth Makim

There’s plenty of talk about what will happen to the main players at Real Madrid next summer, but one Spanish football expert reckons a reshuffle is coming much sooner.

Sky pundit Guillem Balague has claimed that the horrendous 4-0 home defeat at the hands of arch rivals Barcelona could force Los Blancos into immediate action.

Manager Rafael Benitez and team president Florentino Perez have both come under fire following the shocking performance in the season’s first Clasico, and Balague believes Perez will react by booting out Benitez, who had lost just once in 15 games prior to last night’s humbling.

He said: “There is no way whatsoever that this kind of performance – we’re not even talking about the result – but the performance, will have no consequences. It has to have consequences. That’s how Real Madrid works.

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“That means of course that Florentino Perez will probably get rid of the manager, and if that’s the case, what is next? Yet another manager.

“This is a problem for Real Madrid that will not change unless the whole idea and whole philosophy changes.

“The business plan is brilliant – they’re very, very rich. The football plan is very poor, and under Florentino Perez they have won one league in seven years, which suggests that his idea of putting big names on the pitch does not work.

“Of course, Rafa is not the only one to blame, but it’s almost much easier to get rid of the manager.”

Topics:

Real Madrid