Benítez responds to critics

Rafa Benítez is not willing to admit that he got his tactics wrong against Atlético de Madrid. His team sat back as soon as they scored the 0-1 on the 9th minute and Atleti's goalkeeper Jan Oblak never needed to save his team throughout the rest of the match. In the end, Atlético scored the equalizer and prevented Real Madrid from getting all three points.

"I am not a defensive-minded coach, not at all. In Italy they said that I only thought about the offense. We scored 104 goals beating Napoli's record. Here I have been labeled as a defensive-minded coach and we are the team with the most shots on target and the team with most goals scored. The first half of the Derby proves that I am not a defensive-oriented coach. Why did the team play so well that time? Because we wanted to win the game and that was our gameplan," said Benítez.

Real's manager also spoke about Benzema. The French striker has started the season n great form but he's always the chosen one when it comes to substitutions. It happened in the Derby once again.

"I took him off because we wanted to add some more balance to the team. I would also be angry if I were him. The only thing he needs to do is score more goals so that his manager doesn't replace him. I love him as a player, he's great," added Benítez.

The Spanish coach also said that he "would take Cristiano off if needed" when he was asked about him. "He scores 50 goals per season and that's why I try to keep him on the pitch at all times. He's great and he deserves to win another Ballon D'Or," said Benítez.