Real Madrid manager Rafael Benítez feels pressure after Barcelona humbling

Rafa Benítez died with someone else’s boots on, surrounded by a sea of white hankies, that classic Spanish symbol of disgust. When his team left the field at half-time in theclásico, there were whistles; when they came out for the second half, there were whistles; and at the end of a humiliating 4-0 defeat, there were whistles. The PA system was turned to full volume but they could still be heard through Las Mocitas Madrileñas. So could chants for Real Madrid’s president, Florentino Pérez, to resign. And when fans point at presidents, presidents tend to point at managers.

For much of the game the Santiago Bernabéu had stood silent, barely reacting, a reflection of their team. When they did, it was to express their disgust. Even the ovation for Andrés Iniesta was partly punishment for their own players; likewise the applause for Isco, on as a substitute and sent off for hacking Neymar. At least someone cares, they seemed to be saying. At the end, their protests competed with a PA system acting as an aural shield but the pañolada, the hanky wave, with its whistling, could not be hidden.

Amid the din, Luka Modric was stopped by the touchline and asked what had gone wrong. “I don’t know,” he said. “I think we weren’t on the pitch. We have to be a team; when we’re a team we are very good but when, like today, we are not it is difficult.” Madrid did not have a team but they did have a starting XI and, when it was revealed, James Rodríguez, Gareth Bale, Karim Benzema and Cristiano Ronaldo were included. Almost €350m in transfer fees, yet none had the slightest impact. Questioned on his lineup, Benítez said: “It didn’t go well.”

Benítez has been defensive about accusations that he is defensive. Here was the lineup to prove it; the problem was that it did not really feel like a lineup he believed in. Besides, the idea is one thing, its application another. Benítez said here that the idea had been to attack and pressure high, but there was no pressure: not high, not low, not anywhere. Barcelona played at ease. “We gave them too much space,” said Modric.

The formation was supposed to be a 4-2-3-1 but looked more like 6-0-4, if there was a formation. There was certainly no midfield, none of the balance and organisation that defines Benítez. There was an emotional and physical disconnect, even if Marcelo did call a journalist “stupid” for suggesting Madrid had an attitude problem. A gigantic gap existed between the back four plus Modric and Toni Kroos and the front four. The second goal was an example, an apparently individual mistake that was a systematic one, a collective failing: Modric, unassisted, unaware and unwarned that Luis Suárez was coming up behind him.

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This was not what Benítez wanted. But it was easy enough to imagine him thinking: “This is what you wanted and now look.” He left out Casemiro, the man he had praised as giving his team balance, and included all the stars he could. This did not feel like his team but theirs: press, president, players. It did not feel like a team at all. In defeat, intentionally or otherwise, perhaps a point had been made. The cost may be heavy, though. The long-term plan has been to promote Zinedine Zidane from managing Madrid’s B team, so there is a ready-made replacement, but the truth is that Pérez is not entirely enamoured with him either.

Benítez was not the club’s first choice; he was not even the first manager they offered the job to and he inherited a club where there were crises in waiting and where players still resented the sacking of Carlo Ancelotti. In pre-season at least one senior player was already complaining about Benítez and others have joined in. The pressure had built and the fault lines had become increasingly clear. The truth is that Madrid have been awful lately. It is hard to recall an outstanding performance against a decent side, and defeat here was always likely to be damaging.

Chants for the president to resign showed that many fans think this is not just about Benítez, or maybe not even about him. There are not enough leaders in the team and too many individuals, men whose personal performances have been as poor as their attitude. Players are played out of position: some because they want to, some because that’s the only way to crowbar them into the team. Saturday night showed that.

When Benítez was asked why he had chosen this team, apparently out of character, a pointed question that implied presidential prerogative, he noted: “We are all responsible.” If there was a message there, it will not have helped him. Nor did choosing this starting XI.