As Rafael Benitez Fulfils a Dream, He Also Faces a Real Madrid Nightmare

Seven injury-interrupted years as a midfielder at Real Madrid Castilla, the retirement from playing at 26-years-old to turn to coaching, the two years at the helm of Real’s B team and a brief stint as Vicente del Bosque’s assistant in 1994 will all have been worth it for Rafael Benitez come Saturday evening.

Because it is then the Spaniard will walk out at the Santiago Bernabeu to take charge of Real Madrid for the first time in a competitive fixture.

Benitez has been in the away dugout there before, of course.

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His Valencia team of the early 2000s twice beat Real to Liga titles, while his Liverpool side triumphed there in the Champions League in 2009, but despite the manager’s bond with both clubs, there can be no doubt Madrid is his home, a home he will be desperate to do well in now he’s returned.

This honour is one the 55-year-old will have been dreaming of all his professional life, but as it comes around with a fixture against newly promoted Real Betis, it does so with all of the angst and introspection that only this club—Benitez’s club—can produce.

Real Madrid drew 0-0 at another promoted side, Sporting Gijon, on Sunday—a result the Guardian saw fit to call “an embarrassing setback” for Benitez.

In Spain, they went even further, with the head editor of daily sports newspaper AS, P.P. San Martin, laying into the manager’s tactics, his decision to leave James Rodriguez on the bench and the makeup of his bench itself, writing:

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Looking at Real Madrid's bench in Gijon, you could find a substitute goalkeeper, as is habitual, three defenders (Dani Carvajal, Pepe and Nacho), a defensive midfielder (Casemiro), an attacking midfielder (the brand-new Mateo Kovacic) and a number 10 (James Rodriguez).

The latter was the closest thing Real had to a forward to reinforce the attacking effort. Four defenders had three replacements available, but four forwards had just one in the Colombian.

Karim Benzema is injured, fine. But Denis Cheryshev was left out of the squad in Gijon and Lucas Vazquez watched the game from the stands.

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The critics are already looking at his bench, then, and you can bet that they’ll be looking there should the unthinkable happen and Real struggle at home to Betis on Saturday evening.

Drawing 0-0 in your first Liga game in charge of Real isn’t the way to win over onlookers who have expressed concerns at your supposed defensive tactics, and the manager now desperately needs Cristiano Ronaldo, Gareth Bale and the other stars in his galaxy—perhaps even a recalled James—to impress the waiting hordes on Saturday evening.

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Because Benitez knew what he was walking into when he took this job.

He knew that even if you do well as the Real Madrid manager—just as the Champions League-winning Carlo Ancelotti did—you are still only likely to get two years, something nine of the previous 11 bosses didn’t manage. If you don’t do well, you’ll get one year; if you do badly, you won’t even get that.

Benitez’s job isn’t under pressure already, but he more than anyone knows the way that perception rules all in football, especially at Real Madrid.

Another frustrating result, an off-colour Ronaldo, some jeers from the stands and it’ll be the manager who is bearing the brunt and facing a long road back to try and gain the trust of supporters—and a general football-watching public—who seem to have decided that this reign isn’t going to last long.

But this reign is Benitez’s dream. He’ll be desperate for it not to unravel so soon, and he’ll think that a good win against Real Betis will get everything back on track.

It’s what all that time spent in the Madrid shadows—emerging to become one of only 10 managers to have won three European trophies—was for in the first place.

It’s far too early to fail now.