Benitez finally gets his Ronaldo wish

ANALYSIS: The new Real Madrid coach has long
desired to work with the Portuguese superstar and
the success of their relationship will be key to his
reign at the Santiago Bernabeu
By Chris Myson
"If I had a fantasy team, I would want Cristiano
Ronaldo," said Rafael Benitez in 2008 during his
time in charge of Liverpool.
Seven years later, the Spanish tactician has finally
got his chance to coach the 30-year-old
after
being named boss of Real Madrid's squad of
Galacticos.
Back then, Benitez may never have expected such
an opportunity. The manager’s stock at Anfield
was still high and Ronaldo – along with Sir Alex
Ferguson – was the biggest thorn in his side. The
following year, the Reds came so close to the
Premier League title, pipped to the post despite
recording an impressive 86 points.
Ronaldo has since gone on to achieve sensational
personal success in Madrid, breaking numerous
goal records, although he has not fared quite so

well in terms of team trophies - winning just one
La Liga and one Champions League in his six
seasons. Benitez followed his Liverpool exit with
spells of varying outcomes at Inter, Chelsea and
Napoli. So could they be a successful pairing?
The relationship between the duo in the seasons
ahead will go a long way to determining the
legacies of both men at the Bernabeu.
Rafa’s best teams have been well-organised and
occasionally cautious, but the Portuguese star has
proven he can thrive in counter-attacking system
at Madrid and the coach’s impressive record in
Europe should ensure the forward is at least
receptive to his methods.
The infamous rotation system deployed by the ne
Madrid boss would certainly not go down well wit
Ronaldo, a player who likes to play every minute
no matter the competition or opposition.
The remainder of Rafa’s comments from 2008,
though, suggest CR7 may well be immune from
any weekly tinkering with the starting XI.
He continued: “People would enjoy watching him
play alongside Fernando Torres and Steven
Gerrard. I would love to have Ronaldo in my
fantasy team and I doubt he would spend too
much time on the bench."
Indeed, Torres and Gerrard represent two of
Benitez’s biggest success stories when it comes t
managing star players. There were occasional
disagreements – with Torres over his time on the
pitch and Gerrard over his position – but on the
whole he extracted impressive performances from
the pair, with Gerrard supporting and feeding the
striker during his peak years.
Torres netted 72 goals in his three seasons under
Rafa and the star duo came third and fourth in the
league’s goalscoring charts as well as being
named in the PFA Team of the Year after their
2008-09 title tilt. The current Atletico Madrid
forward’s success under Benitez was one of the
reasons he was later brought to Chelsea by
Roman Abramovich.
Benitez's tie-up with Blues captain John Terry, on
the other hand, was an unsuccessful one. The
former England man was insulted by Rafa’s
assertion he was no longer able to play two game
a week due to his age, resulting in him regularly
coming in and out of the team.
Terry even used the post-match celebrations of
this year’s Premier League title victory to take aim
at Benitez, having proven the Spaniard wrong by
playing in every minute of their 38 matches – two
years on from the manager’s departure.
Gonzalo Higuain, the former Madrid front-man, wa
the biggest star Benitez had to handle during his
recent two years in charge of Napoli.
On the whole, the pair had what could be deemed
a normal relationship between player and coach.
There were a few disagreements over playing time
but the Argentine scored an impressive 53 goals
over both campaigns.
Things ended on a sour note, though. In the club’
recent defeat to Juventus , Higuain was hauled off
at half-time following a reported dressing room
row with Benitez over his attitude on the pitch. Th
27-year-old then skied a decisive penalty as
Napoli missed out on Champions League
qualification in dramatic fashion against Lazio.
But Benitez now has everything he wanted. He wil
coach on the biggest stage in world football at the
club where he learned his trade and will have
Ronaldo - one of the game’s all-time stars - to ca
upon.
This is one big relationship he can’t afford to get
wrong.