Rafa Benitez opens up on chaotic Real Madrid reign and having to ‘guide’ Cristiano Ronaldo

Rafa Benítez has opened up about his nightmare spell as Real Madrid manager, stating that he had to pay for the “unfavorable environment” he entered.

Benítez took charge of the Spanish giants in the summer of 2015, but was sacked just seven months later following a rollercoaster tenure that, while not a total disaster on the pitch, was behind-the-scenes chaos.

The former Liverpool, Newcastle and Everton manager left the club with Madrid just two points off the top of the table.

But a fight with many stars, including key players, paved the way for a difficult tenure before he was fired in early 2016.

Zinedine Zidane then took over as boss and although his team finished far behind Barça in LaLiga, they won the first of three consecutive Champions League titles.

Rafa Benítez was appointed Real Madrid manager by Florentino Pérez in the summer of 2015

But the Spanish coach had trouble handling some of his key stars, including Cristiano Ronaldo.

Without giving details, Benítez told Spanish radio station Cadena SER that there was always a conspiracy against his side to deny him success.

‘In my time at Real Madrid they didn’t let us win. We were first in our Champions League group. In the Champions League that Madrid wins, we did our job.

‘In it [Spanish] Copa eliminated us due to an administrative error with [Denis] Cheryshev.

‘So it seemed like it was my fault because he was gone. The team was physically superior to the rivals. When I left, I was two points behind Barcelona with one game less. Two months later he was 12 points behind Barça.

Benítez further explained that it came to chaos after the departure of the previously popular Carlo Ancelotti, revealing that he struggled to manage a fractured dressing room and having to constantly micromanage several of his first-team players, including Cristiano Ronaldo.

“When we arrived in Madrid, Ancelotti had just left, he had a very good relationship with the players, and it seemed that we arrived with a whip.

‘There was an unfavorable environment: the departure of [Iker] Casillas, Keylor Navas, the arrest of [Karim] Benzema… There are complicated situations. And when everything gets complicated, who pays? Me.

‘Cristiano, knowing what he was like, you had to guide him. The problem is when you have to guide seven, some of them do not play, they are not happy. And they go to the media to leak it.

Despite his solid squad, Benítez left the club in January 2016, two points behind Barcelona

Benítez denies treating Gareth Bale better than Ronaldo during his tenure

After the departure of Benítez, Madrid won the Champions League final a few months later.

Benítez also addressed the ‘myths’ of his time in Madrid, including one surrounding his treatment of Ronaldo and Gareth Bale, with many accusing him of favoring the Welshman.

‘It’s another lie. He plays Wales, he catches me next door when I’m in England, it’s common sense. It is another idiocy that they said at the time. They [the media] Sharp nonsense like that.

“The only comment I made to Cristiano Ronaldo, as I knew him from Manchester United, is that we analyze how he was taking free kicks. We look at the trajectory, we see if we can make any adjustments, we saw that we couldn’t and we forgot.

It’s my only conversation with him. Everything else is a lie. When he shoots free throws, when I’m gone, his stats are worse. I was surprised that journalists he knew would say that without talking to me.