Rafa Benitez Laments His Team’s Inability to “Kill Off” The Match After Defeat To Sevilla

Real Madrid boss Rafa Benitez rued his side’s inability to put away their chances as they were beaten 3-2 by a spirited Sevilla side at the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan stadium on Sunday.

Rafa Benitez’s men took the lead in the 22nd minute after club captain Sergio Ramos directed a spectacular scissor kick from the edge of the 18-yard box into the bottom corner. Sevilla equalised 12 minutes later through former Torino and Borussia Dortmund striker Ciro Immobile, who rifled in a right-footed shot from an acute angle.

Sevilla, who grew into the game in the second half, took the lead in the 61st minute through Argentine Ever Banega after some brilliant work done in buildup by Ukranian winger Yevhen Konoplyanka. The Andalusians put the game to bed 13 minutes later after an unmarked Fernando Llorente launched a thumped header into the top corner.

Substitute James Rodriguez grabbed a consolation goal for Los Blancos in injury time to reduce the deficit to half. However, Sevilla hung on to condemn Rafa Benitez to his defeat as the manager of Real Madrid.

Rafa Benitez laments Real Madrid’s lack of killer instinct after defeat to Sevilla

Speaking to the media after his side’s first defeat of the season, Benitez said (via the club’s official website), “We played 30 really good minutes, we had real control in all areas and then we allowed them to score from a dead ball, and that affected us.

“They made the most of mistakes by us to get the third goal and we scored a second at the end, but it wasn’t enough.

“For a lot of the first half we saw a really good Real Madrid performance, and in the second half we couldn’t keep that going.

“We lacked the ability to manage the situation. The match seemed to be under control, and with their first goal they regained confidence and our mistakes allowed them to get stronger.

“We should have killed off Sevilla in that first half, and we didn’t. It’s difficult to react at 3-1 down”.

Asked about the impact of the defeat against Sevilla on El Clasico . , Benitez said, “We’ll be getting players back; we have 10 or 15 days for them to be back in the best possible condition and a game of this magnitude is always different. Hopefully the team will go into it in good shape”.

Real Madrid must regroup before Barcelona come calling in a fortnight’s time

Real Madrid’s first defeat of the season under the stewardship of Rafa Benitez could not have come at a worst time for the club. Los Merengues are scheduled to face their bitter rivals FC Barcelona in the first Clasico of the season, a fortnight from now.

While Barcelona will most likely be without four time Ballon d’Or winner Lionel Messi when they travel to the Santiago Bernabeu, Real Madrid will be weary of the threat posed by the deadly duo of Suarez and Neymar, who are wreaking havoc among the opposition defences.

Real Madrid must shrug off the disappointment of their defeat to Sevilla at the earliest and regroup before the Catalans come calling a fortnight from now.