Football
Dermot Corrigan, Madrid correspondent 8y

Sergio Ramos 'relaxed' over Rafa Benitez disagreement suggestions

Real Madrid captain Sergio Ramos has played down any idea of a fall-out with Blancos boss Rafa Benitez.

Benitez has come in for criticism in the wake of his apparently cautious tactics during Sunday's 1-1 La Liga derbi draw at Atletico Madrid.

Analysing the match on Spanish radio on Monday night, Benitez spoke about players making individual mistakes at 1-0 up, and repeatedly mentioned Ramos conceding a penalty which was taken by Atletico's Antoine Griezmann and saved by Madrid goalkeeper Keylor Navas.

The following morning Ramos responded by questioning the team's approach as they failed to build on their advantage and instead dropped off.

Such apparent differences of opinion have led to suggestions of a strained relationship between club captain and coach, but Ramos appeared unconcerned when speaking with reporters through his car window at Madrid's training ground gate.

Asked if he had spoken with Benitez lately, Ramos replied: "I always speak with my coaches."

Questioned whether the situation had now "calmed down," Ramos said: "Don't worry yourselves, everything is very relaxed."

And asked if the reaction to his own comments had been exaggerated, he replied: "It's not a big deal at all for me."

While Marca says that Benitez had "put out the fire" by calling Ramos to clear everything up, the same paper has also said the new boss has also had differences of opinion with other stars including Cristiano Ronaldo, James Rodriguez, Karim Benzema and Jese Rodriguez during his first three months at the club.

Former Madrid player David Beckham, on a promotional trip to Spain this week, told AS he was confident Benitez had the experience to deal with the issues that might arise.

"I don't know if [Rafa] has had any problems with his players," Beckham said. "I believe he is a manager with good experience. At a big club there can always be problems.

"Rafa is a manager with a lot of experience and has managed big clubs and won trophies. To manage Madrid is a big opportunity. They are playing well and he is doing well. It is a big club, with a lot of pressure and responsibility, but he is doing well."

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