Real Madrid Stars Reportedly to Approach Rafa Benitez over Clasico Tactics

Real Madrid’s players are reportedly ready to go toe-to-toe with Barcelona in an attacking slugfest in Saturday’s El Clasico showdown at the Santiago Bernabeu and will plead with manager Rafael Benitez to abandon his pragmatic tactics for the game.

Miguel Angel Toribio of Marca wrote the Los Blancos stars feel as though the only way to approach the game against their bitter enemies is on the front foot, with a defensive style “not an option.” It’s a plan of action they’ll put to Benitez in the build-up to the match, according to Toribio:

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The dressing-room heavyweights have decided that they are going to have a word in the ear of their manager and propose a change of strategy for the big game against their arch-rivals. Of course, this is no laying down of the law, but rather a strong recommendation from a group of individuals who know very well just what it is to clash with the 'Azulgranas' and feel that they know just what is needed to get the upper hand.

During the usual dressing-room team talk, the players will have a bash at bursting their boss's defensive balloon and make him see that what is required is an all-out attack on the Catalan outfit.

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Benitez has received some criticism from Madridistas due to the defensive style he favours. A strong clean-sheet record earlier in the season was always something the manager could fall back on, but the manner in which Real capitulated against Sevilla in their last outing, losing 3-2, has put Benitez in a tough position.

After all, in the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo, Gareth Bale and James Rodriguez, the former Liverpool manager can call upon some of the finest attacking talent in world football. Why not utilise their remarkable skills to the full?

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As is evident by these statistics from WhoScored.com, at the moment the tactics employed by Benitez are certainly not getting the best out of Real’s offensive crown jewel, Ronaldo:

Still, engaging in a frantic game against Barcelona is a dangerous ploy. At the Santiago Bernabeu, Real do have the players to exploit a stretched match against the majority of teams in world football. But this Blaugrana side is devastating when given space to run into, as evident by the goals scored by Luis Suarez and Neymar in recent weeks.

The pair would love for Real to fly out of the traps with a recklessness in this one, as they each have the composure to exploit attacking opportunities, per BreatheSport:

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Barcelona's last 16 La Liga goals... #Suarez #Neymar pic.twitter.com/FCrIAPaKE9

— BreatheSport (@BreatheSport) November 8, 2015"

In addition, Barca talisman Lionel Messi is back in training ahead of the game after his injury layoff, meaning the devastating triumvirate that fired the Catalan giants to treble glory last season could be reunited at the Bernabeu. Real, therefore, will need to be careful about leaving too much space when they do venture forward.

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As we can see here courtesy of OptaJose, Messi is a player who saves his very best form for this fixture too:

There’s no getting away from the fact Real Madrid need to win this game and, therefore, some attacking intent is absolutely vital. If Barcelona can take a win away from the Bernabeu, they’ll go six points clear of their great rivals and have an edge in the head-to-head record. For Benitez, that’d be a hugely difficult position to recover from.

The Madrid boss is a manager who has typically fared well in big games down the years and he’ll have meticulously studied the best way to get the better of Barcelona. An enterprising, fluid attacking style is unlikely to be used, regardless of what the players want, but given Benitez's track record, it’d be no surprise to see Real snatch a win on Saturday evening.