Football Daily - The key matches of Rafa Benitez’s career

Episode Date: April 25, 2019

From Valencia to Istanbul and Inter to Tyneside - Rafa Benitez tells Guillem Balague about the key matches from his managerial career

BBC Sounds. Music, radio, podcasts. Hello there, I'm Steve Crossman. Welcome to the Football Daily. In this special edition of the podcast, we've got an exclusive interview with Newcastle manager Rafa Benitez. He talks about the matches that have shaped his varied and successful career. A legend at Liverpool after that Champions League win in 2005 and hugely popular on Tyneside too, where he's out of contract at the end of the season. Benitez is probably one of the most high-profile coaches

in the Premier League. But the 59-year-old, who joined the coaching staff of Real Madrid at the age of just 26, has also won trophies in Spain, Italy and Europe and he remains as hungry as ever for success. Even recently saying he wants to win the Champions League again before retiring at the age of 70. Here he is then in conversation

with Guillaume Balaguet Rafa, I ask you to have a look at some of the games that have defined your career and it reminds me that you write everything down everything means everything I believe so is that in in no books when I was 13 I was just writing giving marks to the teammates and writing

everything top scorers in the team everything since then every single game is true that we analyze not just me now it's with my staff. We put everything on paper, and then everyone watched the game and take notes, and we put minutes together, and after we prepared clips. Yeah, but at 13, you didn't have a computer, so that was notebooks, have you got...? I had notes, but I had a computer. We were using MS-DOS, and after Visual Basic, and after Windows.

So you don't have a room full of notebooks that you can check? I had in the attic of my parents, I had around 1,500 videotapes, VHS, with two games each one. So how often did your parents say, Rafa, when are you taking this away? No, to be fair, it was in, I think it was not a problem. This is where we're going to start. Valladolid 2, Valencia 5. January 1996. This is your last game with Valladolid,

which was your first experience in La Liga as a number one. What do you remember of that game? Not everything, but almost everything. I will give you something that you will like. The 15th of August, we were promoted. And I was sleeping, I was with the team in San Rafael, Los Angeles, San Rafael. And I remember that they called me. So the 15th of August, we were in first division. The league was starting the team in San Rafael, Los Angeles, San Rafael. And I remember that they called me.

So the 15th of August, we were in first division. The league was starting the 2nd of September. And we had to sign players quickly. Because this is an administration solution that was found instead of having 20 teams in the first division, because Celta and Sevilla didn't want to go down, and they should have because of financial irregularities. They remained in the first division,

which meant that you were signed as a second division coach. We promoted. But were promoted. And I will tell you, my contract was a second division contract and everything. So as soon as you started the season with a young team, because I take Antia, Antia was coming with me, Fernando. So we have Javi Torres. So I take Marcos

that was for a while so some four players from the academy of Real Madrid so we had a very talented young group of players and then we were

in the first division and then it was very difficult for me a manager without experience in the first division and then

we went to this one Valencia they were doing really well Valencia with Mijatovic it wasn gwneud yn dda iawn, Valencia, gyda Mijatovic. Roedd yn dîm dda iawn. Cyn i'r gêm, roedd Louis Smith, y gweithiwr, yn dod ac yn dweud, gwylio, bos, mae popeth yn iawn. Roeddwn i wedi rhoi rhai garlech ar ôl gol Zubizarreta. Felly, rwy'n meddwl, ar gyfer y llwyr anodd i Zubizarreta, byddwn yn iawn.

Roedd yn golgy be fine that was Valencia goalkeeper at the time yeah and then Zubizarreta was injured during the warm up so it worked yeah

and then it was oh and then they put Bartual as a keeper he made 3 or 4 saves that he said listen it's man of the match

so and they were much better than us and fine so then they decide to fire me and to fire

the technical director that was my concern. Why? I was complaining about the level of the signage at the end, because we didn't hurry. And he was complaining about the lack of experience of the manager. And they fired both. You go home and you're thinking,

you doubt your own ability at that point? You think you've done something wrong? No, I was really disappointed, obviously, because I thought that we were working so hard that I thought I was wrong. But in the end, it's an experience. So I said, OK, what I was doing, as you say, I was taking notes, everything. And I was learning, trying to be sure that I couldn't make the same mistake. And the contract that I have in second division was easy for them to change the manager. Valencia signed you because of what you've done at Tenerife.

What did they see that you could provide? To be fair, what they told me is that they were following me and some people were talking with them about me and also that they tried a couple of managers with more experience than me and they couldn't get them. Then they said, OK, we'll go for this one. Tenerife, as you say they tried a couple of managers with more experience than me, and they couldn't get them. Then they said, OK, we'll go for this one.

Tenerife, as you say, was a great season. We were playing really, really good football. We were a very offensive team, creating chances in every game. We had the balance. We were a very, very good team in attack, and I think that they were happy with that. That was in a context where young Spanish coaches were not signed. They didn't get those kind of opportunities.

So it had to work well. And, of course, there was a moment in your first season. We are going to the 15th of December 2001, Español-Valencia, in which things were not going your way. And I know I heard directors of Valencia saying at halftime this is it we don't want Rafa here anymore he's going to be sacked. Everybody's saying that and in Valencia they are telling me that all the journalists but I didn't know at this time so I was just focused on we are losing 2-0 I need to make changes and substitutions and newid Aymar ar gyfer Salva. Felly mae'n rhaid i ni newid rhywbeth ac rydyn ni wedi gwneud hynny.

Roffetti wedi golygu cwpl o gols ac Iliad, yr arweinydd mwyaf, wedi golygu un arall. Ac rydyn ni wedi gwneud y gêm. Felly roedd popeth yn wahanol. Ond i'r gwirionedd, roedden ni'n gwneud yn dda oherwydd roedden ni, dwi'n meddwl, 13 o'r gêm wedi cael eu cymryd. Ac mae gennym 6 gwyntiau a 7 drws neu rhywbeth fel hynny. Ond oherwydd Valencia, they played two Champions League finals and everybody was expecting something more, then maybe at this time, so new manager, young manager, maybe is not ready.

And we did well. We won and then we carried on. Do you remember who finished second that season? I think it was Real Madrid. Deportivo. Deportivo, okay. Deportivo was second. But that was, of course, the first time in 31 years

that Valencia won the league. What did you think about your own career at that particular time? It's like, this is it. I made it. I mean, I cannot get anything bigger than this. No, I told my wife that I will win the Champions League. So she was always telling me, you told me. But at this time, I was not thinking too much about what to achieve.

It's just to try to do your best every time. I have grown in the academy of Real Madrid. So when I was 13 until I was 20, and normally you have to win. So you cannot finish second. Finish second was a disaster. So I remember my first four years, we won the league three times. It's something that you have in your DNA.

And then to go there, it's not like, OK, finish. No, you have to try and keep winning. rydyn ni wedi cael y Llew 3 gwaith, mae'n rhywbeth sydd gennych chi yn eich DNA ac yna i fynd yno nid yn dweud, oes gennych chi ddiddordeb, mae'n dweud, mae'n rhaid i chi geisio a chyflawni. Yn ôl hynny roedd y Cwp Ffinal UEFA, a oedd y gêm olaf a chwaraewch chi, a rydwch chi'n rheolio yn Valencia, ac yn ôl wrth gwrs, wedi cael y Llew eto ar ôl 3 mlynedd. Ac yna roedd y parade yn... oedd hynny'r un rydych chi'n coi? Dwi ddim yn cofio hynny. Ie, fe wnaethoch chi. was that the one that you cried in? I don't remember that yeah you did

you did the first thing that I remember of this final is Ayala against Jogba and then the first ball in the air

to Ayala was boom smash him listen this is my territory so don't come around and these kind of things are important

the character of your players and these football players they have very very good character in the group stage, you met Liverpool and you beat them 2-0, which was described

by the English press as a humbling experience because actually you performed really well, perhaps should have scored by more goals. And then you beat them at Anfield as well.

And I know by Rick Parry that they went like, OK, we need to find out about this guy. And you went to a sure list for Liverpool. We played a friendly the year after, Roedd yn dweud wrth Rick Parry, roedd yn dweud, wel, mae angen i ni ddysgu hynny am y dyn hon. Ac fe wnaethoch chi fynd i'r list yn siwr am Liverpool Ducks. Roedden ni'n chwarae yn ffrindol y flwyddyn nesaf. Hefyd, roeddem yn eu cymryd yn Anfield. A'r Carragher a'r Stevie,

fe wnaethon nhw dweud, nid oeddem yn gallu creu unrhyw gyfle. Felly, i'w rhaid, roedd yn sgwrs bod y dyn hon yn dda iawn. Nid oedden nhw'n gallu creu cyfle hyd yn oed yn gyda ni. Ac mae'r plws ffrindol hyn, y dau gêm yn y Lleoledd, yn eu gwneud nhw'n meddwl, this team was so good that they couldn't create even chances against us and this friendly plus the other two games in the

Champions League make them think oh maybe it's a chance We are in Liverpool now and I think you realised straight away

that you were in a special place and this is said far too often. But there was something magical about how they welcomed you with open arms. And this was a club that needed to win, of course. Yeah, you could feel this passion from the fans from day one. So they were desperate to win something. But the interesting thing, and it was a surprise for me,

coming from Spain, they told me in three years we want to compete. So nobody was telling me we have to win now, it's just try to stay in the... to go to the Champions League and try to compete in three years. And then we did really well, we were in the final of the Carling Cup and after we won the famous Champions League final but the atmosphere in in general was quite positive and then especially when we were playing

in europe so the fans were behind the team and and everybody was feeling something special we got to the atatürk and to istanbul the 25th of may 2005 and we've heard a lot about it but i think we haven't heard enough from from your point of view exactly what what what went through your head in in the tough times of that game especially so in that first half i saw that you were a lot of conversations with paco and trying to the point the point here is was at the beginning of my time in england so my english was quite bad now it's not amazing but it was quite bad then you have to spread yourself and especially at o'r dechrau o fy mhrofiad yn Lloegr, felly roedd fy nghaelodd yn eithaf anodd. Nawr, nid yw'n wych ond roedd yn eithaf anodd. Mae'n rhaid i chi ddatblygu eich hun, yn enwedig ar hanner ystod

pan fyddwch yn colli 3-0. Felly mae'n eithaf anodd rhoi neges, bod yn emosiynol a mynd i mewn i'r cyrff y chwaraewyr a'u gwneud eu credu. Roeddwn yn cymryd fy nodiau, 2-0 i lawr, a'n cymryd fy nodiau ac yna gallwn weld y gol tref. Roedd yn ddifrifol iawn. Rwy'n cofio'r chwaraewyr gyda'u llawr i lawr, yn siarad â nhw, kneel down and taking my notes and then we can see the third goal it was very difficult i remember the player with the head down talking with them say listen come on if we score one goal well we will be back in the game so we need to score the goal the game plan was thinking about ourselves

okay we are doing well we can we can compete but we have the injury of harry kill early then we have to change so we can see three goals they were really good we were not doing well and then i knew when we were talking about that that we have to change i told paco paco i will give the team talk and then take didi hamman to do the warm-up as soon as i finish and then we will play three in the back and we play didi with um with alonso in the middle. That's Paco Yestran who was your assistant at the time. And then when I was talking about that, three in the back, and I said to Jimmy Traore, go to the shower and then we'll play with Finan, Carragher and Kipia.

And then when I finished, I said, we have to score one goal, we go back into the game. And then Dave Gally, the official, was treating Finan, and he told me, I don't think that Finan can play the whole game, 45 minutes. Are you sure? Yeah, and Finan was furious with him. Then I said to Traore, come back. And then I changed Finan.

This is after he was in the shower, practically, or just about to change into the shower? I don't remember if he was but he was nearly there for sure because it was 8 minutes maybe 9 minutes after so and Paco

went with Didi Hamann and I was talking with Dave so I changed I was Traore on the left with Hipia and Carra on the right and then Hamann obviously in the middle and then I said we have to put we need this side because we have to protect this side, we have the change of, the substitution of Kiewel and we have Schmeisser and Schmeisser

was not playing for a while, so on the right we have to, maybe if we put Cissé, no if we put Cissé we'll be 12 players, that is true, because I didn't have Luis Garcia. Then that's it, we went outside with three at the back and then changed everything. And we scored one goal. At that point, you score a goal, which is what you said, that it may change everything. What was going to happen next is you score two more, the three goals in six minutes.

But at that particular moment, you think there's nothing to touch. Let it go. Yeah, no, no, no. We were better than them. We had more control. And you could feel the fans' atmosphere. They were really, really worried.

And then we scored the second goal. And everybody was excited. And we had the control of the game at this time. Because if you think tactically, two strikers and a player behind, with our three centre-backs, we were controlling that. With the two holding midfielders, we were controlling that. So it was a question of Gerrard running forward or Barros or whatever. So we had the control of the game.

And then we scored the third goal, and you could see that they needed to react. Jersey 2, they made a great save, but after an extra time, we were better than them. So we had the control, we were creating chances and Cissé had a couple of situations he could do a little bit better so we were there and I had the belief that we could win in extra time but I was

also convinced that we could do it in penalties because people talk about Carra telling Jersey Dudaic about the groveler movements but then Ocho Torena and the goalkeeping coach, we had a database with all the penalties. And over five of the penalty takers, we knew four of them. So we have an advantage that in a final is massive.

After the three goals, the 3-3, at that point, you still had to intervene a lot. You had to move Gerrard out of position. Yeah, because they played Serginho. They put Serginho on the left side as'n rhoi Serginio ar y llaw fel cyfnod cyfnodol, a oedd yn symud yn dda iawn i Ancelotti. Yna mae'n rhaid i Gerrard symud oherwydd, fel maesur, doedd hi ddim yn gallu ei ddilyn. Ac mae Gerrard yn diweddar ar rhai amser fel ffwrdd o'i llaw ac ar ôl,

roedd yn mynd ymlaen fel wynger. Felly roedd hynny'n bwynt arwain arnom. Felly, roeddem yn rheoli'n tactigol, roeddem yn eu paru. Ac os ydych chi'n gweld eu tîm, roedd yn dda iawn. managed tactically we were stopping them and if you see their team it was really really good so we saw character tactically we managed but especially we saw character some players they gave everything and in the end we were a little bit lucky but in the end especially I say penalties is because we knew exactly what what could happen right at the end of the game, I spoke to a couple of the players and also Paco yesterday, and they fell down.

They felt almost like depressed, like they had obviously no energy. You're giving everything emotionally. You were completely empty. And they just had to lift themselves up by giving themselves a little bit of sugar and whatever. Did you go through that as well? No.

I was fine until four or five in the morning because we have a party and everybody was around there i don't drink and so it's just the party pictures and the fans and friends i say a friend of mine wanted to go in and the party and they didn't allow him to go and then they called me and I have to go outside and to talk with the people that was there and then we were one minute outside and then when I tried to go inside they didn't allow me to go in and then the security said no you cannot that's it and my friends said listen you know who is this man no he's God he's God so so that was the situation that we have this time obviously to God you have to let them in whatever that is and that was the situation that we have this time. Obviously, to God, you have to let them in,

whatever that is, and that was to the hotel. You should have said that you were one of the Jimmy Carragher's cousins. There were about 45 of them on that hotel that night. Yeah, it could be in the hotel, but in the party, you never know, so it was a lot of people, and everybody was enjoying it. Did you get to sleep that night?

Yeah, I think a little bit, not too much. And then you did the parade through the city centre. It was massive and very dangerous. I remember, because I have the picture at home, Yn fath, nid yn llawer. Ac wedyn fe wnaethoch chi wneud y parade trwy'r ganolfan y ddinas? Roedd yn fawr ac yn anodd iawn. Rwy'n cofio, oherwydd roedd y ffotograff yn ffynhau, roedd y ddinas yn wych, mae'r ffans yn pob lle. Ond rwy'n cofio pan oeddech chi wedi diwedd, roedd pawb wedi mynd i'r tŷ a'ch bod yn mynd yn ôl

gyda'r ddwy leger. Roedd y chwaraeon yn y tu allan ac roedd yn gyflym iawn. Roedd y chwaraeon yn gweld y tref, y ffynhau, ac roedd y chwaraeon yn gofio, The players, they were at the top, and it was quite fast. And then you could see the trees, the branches, and then the players were, hey, be careful. And it was quite dangerous, so I remember that. Paco Herrera told me that the thing that remembers the most is that you were so slow at some point, and there were people in the windows, a woman who was an Everton fan, with the Everton flag,

there, just congratulating you in a way by just being there, but reminding you that Liverpool is not just yours. I remember you had the greatest thing that has been invented, has been brought here after the potatoes, one flag that was put in something like that. Who was that? You?

Yeah, they were talking about me. It was the most important thing after the potato coming to England something like that before we finish

with Liverpool you get home after what had been an extraordinary 48 hours for all sorts of reasons you get home and you've been

surrounded by thousands and thousands of people but at that point you're on your own sitting on the sofa having wine or water or... No, water. Water?

Yeah. Do you remember that moment where... Urias must have been hurting from so much noise, but you were at that point on your own. To be fair, no. I remember everything, or everything, the parade and full of people. And after, as you say, maybe I was so exhausted that then just go and stay with the family and full of people and after as you say maybe I was so exhausted that then just go stay with the family

and that's it so I remember the days after because we were thinking about the next season we didn't have too much money

so we had to sell players and buy but that's it at this time it's just enjoy with the family and I don't remember

exactly all the details After Valencia and Liverpool it's difficult to follow that up but of course once you are at the elite you want to remain in the elite, it's logical so you go to Inter Milan the game we're going to pick from that is one that perhaps is not in the memory

of many fans, it's the TP Mansempi 0 Inter Milan 3 that's the 18th ofbre 2010, a dyna oedd yn taitl. Yn amlwg, nid oeddem yn disgwylio Mantepe yn y ffynal oherwydd... Dyma'r ffynal Cwb Cwb Cwb Cwb. Ie, y ffynal Cwb Cwb Cwb. Roedd yn fawr oherwydd roedd yn troffi a oedd yn ei ddodd yn 41 mlynedd yn ôl, ac roedd yn Moratti's father won 41 years before and he was desperate to win this title

and then we won and he was so happy. But at the same time, it was a problem because obviously when I went to Inter, they promised me signing. We didn't sign anyone. And I said in a press conference that it's the time to sign players or to support the manager

and then they changed the manager. That happened a few days after, but let's put the whole thing in context. You decided to go to Inter Milan after they won everything and after Jose Mourinho had left to Real Madrid. Looking back at that decision, is that something you would do differently now? Yeah, maybe, but maybe not.

The team was good, the players were quite professional, the majority of them. The only thing that was wrong is just they promised to sign some players and they didn't do it. AC Milan, they signed Ibrahimovic and they won the league and it was difficult for Inter to compete when AC Milan

was coming back. We won the Super Cup, against Ranieri with Rome And then we won the Super Cup. So we won the Super Cup against Ranieri with Rome. And after we won the World Cup. So we did what we could do. And it was a question of to invest and then try to change the team because the team has 15 players over 30 years old. 15.

It took two years before you got the next job. And was it a mixture of not getting the right offer, the right timing? I had some offers, some meetings with people. you got the next job and was it a mixture of not getting the right offer the right timing or i had some some offers some meetings with people and we were close and i was even watching games with the director so and then i have a phone call and then chelsea come around and then that was the opportunity because it was in england was a top side, and it was the chance to win something. I spoke to Abraham Grant a couple of days ago and he said that he got a report from a very close friend of yours

of how good you were and everything, and he went straight to Roman Abramovich and said, you have to sign this guy. I don't know if you know the context of the situation or if it was Marina Kronoskaya, who at the time, and still is the top boss at Chelsea or Roman himself who spoke to you at that time? I was talking with Abramovich at that time

I was without a job so I could do what I wanted yeah I was talking with them and it was just to know me as you say character face to face and I think they have enough reports and after they yn ystod oed, ac rwy'n credu bod gennyf ychydig o adroddiadau ar ôl eu gwneud penderfyniad. O'r pryd honno, rydym yn codi'r Benfica 1, Chelsea 2. Dyma'r Ffynal Lig Ewrop, wrth gwrs, y 15 Maes 2013. Beth rydych chi'n cofio o'r gêm hwn? Roedd yn anodd iawn. Benfica oedd dîm da. Roeddem yn meddwl ein bod yn well na nhw, ond roedden nhw'n dda iawn ar y bwrdd.

Roeddwn i'n rhoi David Luiz fel ffiler cymdeithasol, ac yn y llawr cyntaf, doeddem ni ddim yn gwneud yn dda. Ond yn y llawr diwethaf, roedden ni'n llawer gwell. Roedden ni'n ymarferu set-pieces. Roedden nhw'n gwneud sôn a marcu mewn cornoedd, ond nid ar y bocs Sigr. Roedd yn y llawr diagonal. Roedden ni'n ymarferu set pieces, â Mata yn cyrraedd y cornerau, a'r oedden ni'n dod i'r post diwethaf. Yn ystod y sesiwn hyfforddi, nid oedd rhywbeth yn iawn. Roedd yn cyrraedd y cornerau, roedd yn ddisastr. Yn ystod y cornerau, roedden ni'n gwneud hynny.

Roedden ni'n blocio'r ddyn diwethaf, ac yn ystod y cyfnod diwethaf, roedd Ydw i'n gofyn i ni ddynu'r cup op Oeafra, neu'r Llewodraeth Europa. Oeafra oedd ar hyn o bryd. Felly, yr holl beth roeddech chi'n ceisio ei wneud yn y sesiwn hyfforddi, doeddwch chi ddim yn ei wneud yn dda, ac wedyn roedd yn iawn yn ystod y gêm. Allwch chi fod yn ffynhau, yn ffynhau, yn hollol, yn hollol, yn onest, ar y teimlad oeddech chi ddim eisiau gynnal rhywbeth neu oedd hynny'n dda? Nid, yn fy mhrofiad, mae pobl yn cael ymwybodol o'r gwahaniaeth. Roeddwn i'n falch iawn, roedden ni'n iawn, roedden ni'n byw yn Covan, roedd y bobl yn dda iawn, roedden nhw'n ein cefnogi. Yn ystafell hyfforddiant roedd yn wych,

roedd pawb yn hapus gyda'n sefyllfa a'r ffordd y byddem yn ei ddod o hyd i bobl. the staff, everybody was happy with our situation and the way that we were treating people a couple of players maybe they were not as happy because they were not playing maybe one of them was not playing but the rest of the people was happy and I didn't have any problem with Abramovich with Marina, with Emenalo that was the technical director

nothing, everything was fine some fans or maybe some players they were not happy but the majority of them they were fine and the atmosphere was really good so my memories are quite positive no negative so and still I have a lot of friends and and relationship with people there right okay I don't want to spoil that memory but I was at a lot of those games and some of the things I heard from the fans, from your own fans. Fine, but no. Fans are a lot of fans. Always I say the same.

So at the beginning there were not too many. After there were more of them. But the majority of them they were fine. And I am telling you that the crucial game was against Middlesbrough in the Cup.

We beat Middlesbrough 2-0 in the Cup away. And then I gave an interview live and after the press conference and I said, listen, I'm a professional. and after the press conference and I said listen I'm a professional

I will do my job I will try to do the best for my team that is Chelsea Football Club and that's it you don't need to complain about me

because I will leave at the end of the season some of them maybe they were worried fine but the rivalry between Liverpool

and Chelsea when Mourinho was there and we were winning with Liverpool we played 16 times against Chelsea at this, and we were winning with Liverpool, we played 16 times against Chelsea at this period, and we were winning especially

massive games in the Champions League, and they won some of them, but we won the important one at the beginning. So I can tell you, I was going to the supermarket, I was walking around Cobham, I was going to a restaurant,

and the people were really nice, and they were telling you, they were supporting me, and I will tell you evenham. I was going to a restaurant and the people were really nice and they were telling you, they were supporting me. And I will tell you even more. Newcastle, I came here by train one day and I was waiting, my family that was coming later

from London and someone approached me. I said, I am a Chelsea fan. Thank you very much what we did for us. You did well. So I have had this conversation

so many times that still you say, okay, bad memories. No, good memories. Next game is Real Madrid 8-0 Malmo, which you mentioned already, and Liverpool 8-0 Besiktas. Those are games that you managed.

Record in the Champions League in terms of goals and goes back to the idea of perception. The fact that actually you get seen as a conservative coach. Would it be fair to say because you're trying to balance your teams and sometimes you have to defend, sometimes you have to attack? Always I try to say that, balance. People, they can see your team organised, they don't say, oh, it's expansive football, but you have a lot of teams talking about expansive football and relegated.

So you need to do what the fans are expecting from you. They have the hope and they believe that you will get something that they are expecting. And obviously, everybody would like to see a team scoring five, eight goals every game. Sometimes you cannot. You have to use the tools that you have and try to get the best from your players. So normally, we improve players. y tîm yn gofyn 5-8 gols bob gêm. Ond weithiau, nid ydych chi'n gallu. Mae'n rhaid i chi ddefnyddio'r ddewis sydd gennych chi a ceisio cael y gorau o'ch chwaraewyr. Felly, yn aml, rydym yn gwella chwaraewyr. Yn aml, rydym yn gwella'r tîm. Ac yn aml, rydym yn cael yr hyn rydym yn ei edrych ar, neu rydym yn cyflawni'r hyn rydym yn ei edrych ar. Ond, nid yw'n golygu bod yn rhaid i ni bob amser yn diffenu. Efallai fod yn atal, efallai fod yn cymryd be always defending, could be attacking, could be pressing high, but the balance is to defend

well and to attack well. Then this Valencia that I told you before was conceding less goals than anyone and scoring one less than Real Madrid and we won the league with seven points ahead advantage. So that is what you are looking for, a balance between to attack and then create chances and score goals and defend well. Newcastle United as a team, we were not giving too many chances to the other teams for a period, and we were not scoring too many goals, but we were creating chances. So when you create chances, it's a question of accuracy.

And at the end, what I say always is the final third. You can improve players and teams in the back, the organisation and everything. The final third is more difficult because it depends on the talent. You never know what the defender will do. So then when you go to buy players in the final third, they are more expensive, it's more difficult, and normally they are in the top sides.

That is the reason why you can be organised, you can keep your balance, but you will score less goals so then you have to find this balance between to create more chances without being exposed in defence

and winning I want to play nice football good football but you have to win nobody remember AC Milan

in the final of Istanbul even if they scored two goals and they played great in the first half, they remember Liverpool because we won the trophy. So you have to find this balance

between to win and to win playing well, that you will have more chances if you play well to win games. On that game against Malmo, Ronaldo scored four goals. What was your relationship with Cristiano? It was fine. So in terms of people

was trying to create a mess at the beginning, but I was talking with him every day and two weeks before to leave, he said they are doing a great job. So he's a professional, he takes care of himself, he's always focused on what he wants to do and that's it. So we have the situation over there was that they didn't allow us to go through because we were two points behind Barcelona

with one game in hand four points behind Atletico Madrid so we were in the league we were first in the Champions League and we were out of the cup

because a problem an administrative problem so we were doing things right but they decided to change and that's it

going a little bit full circle here that was the second time i saw you crying when when you were presented as a real madrid manager it was the it was a dream yeah more than a dream because i had the offer in the past three times so that was the one that i have to Well, you said three times no to Florentino Perez? Not just Florentino, but it was three times, different times. And I said, at this time, I have to go because it was an opportunity and it was a good team to do well. Obviously, when you have been in Real Madrid since you were 13 years old until you were 35, so it was an emotional time. After the rollercoaster emotional times at Real Madrid,

you go to Newcastle. And from that period, we chose a game which was extraordinary for many reasons. Newcastle 5, Spurs 1. This is the last game of the season, 15th of May, 2016. And Pochettino told me that that day you were kind of saying, don't worry, don't worry, Pochettino. You were, Newcast guys are like, calm down

but you were actually trying to cheer him up and it was a game in which the fans chanted your name for 90 minutes yeah, that was a massive game so that was another fact that made you think oh, this is a massive club and you can do something with these fans behind and with the city behind to be fair then it was a great game so everybody was pushing gallwch wneud rhywbeth gyda'r ffans y tu ôl ac y ddinas y tu ôl. Roedd yn gêm wych, felly roedd pawb yn cymryd rhan.

Roedd Mitoi wedi cael ei ddod o'r gêm, felly roeddem yn chwarae gyda 10 o chwaraewyr. Roeddem yn atal, ac maen nhw'n rhaid eu gynnal. Nid oeddent yn chwarae am beth, felly maen nhw'n rhaid eu gynnal. Ond roedd popeth yn iawn, roedd y ffans yn wych. Ac roedd hynny'n ffactor allweddol ar fy nesaf. Roeddwn i'n siarad â Mike Gasly ar ôl y gêm. The fans were amazing. And that was a key factor in my decision. So I was talking with Mike Ashley after the game and he was telling me, oh, what do you want? And we were talking about what we thought

that was ideal to promote. And then after a couple of days, we were talking and we were talking about the future. There you go. The Newcastle manager Rafa Benitez in conversation with Guillaume Balaguet. Just got time to let you know that on Friday's Football Daily,

you can join Gabby Logan for a debate on the PFA Team of the Year. And they'll also be talking about who should win the PFA Player of the Year. Thanks for listening to the Football Daily.