Rafa Benítez joined Pep Guardiola, Mauricio Pochettino and Sinisa Mihajlovic in a joint press conference at Munich’s Westin Hotel on Monday evening. The four managers previewed this week’s Audi Cup tournament which sees Real Madrid face Tottenham Hotspur at the Allianz Arena tomorrow. Benítez spoke about his task of improving the squad but didn’t disclose who would be going out on loan and also explained that Cristiano Ronaldo and Karim Benzema have been ruled out of the Spurs match: “We decided not to risk playing them. The players’ health comes first”. The coach also maintained that Benzema will be staying where he is, despite rumours of interest from Arsenal.
More new signings: As I have said before, Madrid have brought a few players in and we already have a great squad. My objective is to get the best out of it, to improve the players we do have to be competitive - as Madrid always has been.
Bale: Obviously Gareth is a key player for us but I can't talk about offers for our players. He's an important member of the squad; I know he wants to play well and that he is happy. I’m sure he’s going to have a great season.
Kroos: I agree with everything that Pep Guardiola has just said about him. He’s a great player and he will play tomorrow. As for his level of Spanish, it’s not bad - acceptable (laughs).
De Gea: I have said in five press conferences that I don’t want to talk about players who are at other clubs. We have three very good goalkeepers: Keylor Navas, Casilla.... I can talk about my goalkeepers but not those who play elsewhere.
Ødegaard and the players who could be loaned out: Every game is important for the players. All of the games we have played so far and the ones which remain in this pre-season.
Relationship with Cristiano: Cristiano is a true professional; he's competitive and wants to win every game. I'm delighted with him.
Arsenal’s interest in Benzema: He will stay with us, I can't see any reason why he would leave. We are very happy with him.