Real Madrid boss Rafa Benitez says he will have no issue substituting Karim Benzema in future games after the Frenchman appeared to be angry after being removed in the derby against Atletico de Madrid.
The 27-year-old opened the scoring at the Vicente Calderon with a header – his sixth league goal of the season so far. But he was taken off in the second half as Benitez looked to hold onto the slender lead. The move backfired as Atletico went on to score a late equaliser.
In an interview with Cadena Ser, Benitez played down any issue with Benzema, and suggested that if the striker wants to stay on the field in future, he should score more.
He stated: “I will take Benzema off again if it is needed. He is a phenomenon. Let him get mad. Next day, make sure you score twice instead of once. There are less troubles than what I read. People exaggerate too much, Real Madrid have a huge dimension.”
And he continued: “I did not have any argument with Karim. He can be angry, but we get along with each other. There is no problem at all but you will see 200 tweets and 300 websites talking about it. I have such a good relationship with him. I consider him a great player. I challenged him to reach 20-25 [goals]. If I were him, I would be angry as well. And if I was him, I would score twice and not once so the coach does not take me off.”
