MADRID: Rafael Benitez suffered an embarrassing setback in his first La Liga outing in charge of Real Madrid when they were held to a 0-0 draw at promoted Sporting Gijon in their opening match of the season on Sunday.
Real’s expensively assembled squad, including FIFA Ballon d’Or winner Cristiano Ronaldo and Gareth Bale, the world’s most expensive player, could not find a way past Gijon’s determined defence at the Molinon.
If former Valencia coach Benitez was hoping for a rousing win on his return to La Liga after 11 years he was sorely disappointed as Real drew a blank in Asturias.
Gijon goalkeeper Ivan Cuellar was on fine form, particularly against Ronaldo, while Real’s approach play looked lethargic and too many passes went astray.
Gijon – whose resources are a fraction of those of their illustrious visitors – also created chances and when Arnaldo Sanabria headed against the underside of the bar in the first half, television replays showed it may have just crossed the goalline.
“The gap between us and Madrid is immense,” Cuellar told Spanish television.
“They are one of the best teams in the world but humility and solidarity won the day,” he added.
“Our objective remains very clear though and it’s to avoid relegation. I would like to see how many kilometres my team-mates ran. What a great job.”
Real captain Sergio Ramos said some self-criticism was needed.
“Anything other than a win is not good,” added the Spain international before giving credit to the opponents.
“But we shouldn’t take anything away from the opponent. They pressured well high up the pitch in the first half,” said Real Madrid captain. REUTERS
