Football
Dermot Corrigan, Madrid correspondent 7y

Real Madrid have 'spoiled superstars' - Napoli president Aurelio De Laurentiis

Napoli president Aurelio De Laurentiis says that "spoiled superstars" at Real Madrid can put in "danger" the job of any coach at the Bernabeu.

Madrid-born Rafa Benitez had two seasons in charge of Napoli between 2013 and 2015, before leaving for Madrid to take over at a club where he had previously been a young player and reserve team coach.

Benitez then lasted just six months in charge of the Blancos first team after public disagreements with key players including captain Sergio Ramos and Cristiano Ronaldo, being replaced in January 2016 by Zinedine Zidane.

Speaking to El Pais ahead of Tuesday's Champions League round-of-16 second leg between Madrid and Napoli at the Stadio San Paolo, the Italian film producer said that any coach who did not keep Madrid's big players happy would not last long.

"I couldn't keep [Benitez] for a third year," De Laurentiis said. "I was happy for him. But anyone who signs for Real Madrid is in danger. There are players, spoiled superstars, who if they go against the coach it affects the team's performance."

De Laurentiis also spoke about the €90 million departure of forward Gonzalo Higuain from Napoli to Juventus last summer, saying that the Argentina international had been "ruined" by too much positive media coverage.

"The whole [Higuain] operation was a total success," he said. "At Real Madrid he did not get the exposure he had at Napoli. But sometimes the media create heroes at a club, and not always these supposed heroes can take the recognition. They are young kids, and the media can ruin these people. He had a good year. But he missed penalties that meant we missed out on second place and qualification for the Champions League."

Higuain's family had wanted to control which players were in the Napoli starting XI, De Laurentiis claimed.

"[Higuain's] brother always told me -- 'Higuain does not like playing with [Jose] Callejon, buy other players,'" De Laurentiis added. "I never paid him any attention as I love Callejon. So I extended his contract four years. I am not a man who you can blackmail."

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