Real Madrid coach claims ‘campaign’ against him, Perez, club

Madrid, Dec 30: Real Madrid head coach Rafa Benitez has denounced "a campaign" against him as well as the football club president Florentino Perez and his team.

"What is clear is that there is a campaign against Florentino Perez, against Real Madrid and against the manager. Everything that is open to criticism is criticized and that which is not is manipulated," Benitez was quoted as saying by Efe on Tuesday.

"We all have to put more effort in and I will be first to do so, assessments can be made at the end," he insisted.

The coach asked everyone to evaluate "at the end" because that is the time "to win titles" and downplayed the survey carried out by club members on the work of the current coach and whether they favour names like Zinedine Zidane or sacked Chelsea coach Jose Mourinho as substitutes.

"Surveys are carried out continuously and the media's interest in doing them is part of their interest in manipulating things," he complained.

Benitez, who joined the Los Blancos from Italian club Napoli this summer, defended his long career as the best formula to correct the course of Real Madrid.

"I have been around for a long time and I already have experience and it is necessary to avoid distraction as much as possible. Solutions involve concentrating on work," he said.

"Each week 13 players are left out of the starting XI and it appears that these are personal decisions and there is speculation. It has been like that from the start and there is clear manipulation of information," the former Valencia, Liverpool and Inter Milan coach claimed.

"My responsibility is to take decisions that must be taken in order for the team to win and play well," he concluded.

Real Madrid, who are third in the La Liga standings, face Real Sociedad later on Wednesday.