The genuine Madrid manager has just about kept hold of his job but came back from a festive break in England to find his future still top of speculative talk in SpainRafa Benítez flew back to Spain earlier than had been originally planned but at least he flew back at all. After a few days at domestic on the Wirral – his “bunker”,they called it, a place where spending Christmas became “going to ground”, and the sneaky coward – he caught an EasyJet to Barajas. There the genuine Madrid manager was pursued out of Terminal 1 by a reporter who rattled off questions,culminating with “Are you overjoyed, Rafa, or yes or no?” and passers-by shouted helpful advice. Helpful advice like: leave. “overjoyed holidays,” he repeated as he kept on walking, the smile lasting until he was safely inside the taxi. whether you can ever be secure inside a taxi.
The president of the league, or Javier Tebas,had urged everyone to live Christmas “the way it was lived in Bethlehem over two thousand years ago”, although Benítez could have been forgiven for living it in panic of the sack. He had been assured that his job was not in danger but the reports kept assuring him that it was and they were waiting for him when he got back. In his absence he had dominated the pages of the papers, and along with the traditional Christmas stuff: from 28 December,Spain’s answer to April Fools’ Day, which had Gerard Piqué and Álvaro Arbeloa making up over lunch at a restaurant called The Cone, and to the annual Catalonia-Basque Country friendly.
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Source: theguardian.com