Losing 4-0 at home to Barcelona is always going to put a Real Madrid manager under severe pressure.
But when that manager is Rafa Benitez and he was already said to be facing the sack if he lost El Clasico, then that just adds to storm.
However, this evening, the club publicly announced that they are sticking by their man. But there still won't be confidence over his long-term future if there isn't a drastic turnaround in form.
But president Florentino Perez, who is wedded to the Galactico philosophy of marketability and big name stars, is also facing scrutiny over his policies.
Perez stated support for Benitez, as expected. Notable that THREE times he said team's problems date back to January. So it's Carlo's fault.
— Andy West (@andywest01) November 23, 2015
BBC Sport Spanish football contributor Andy West and ESPN La Liga writer Dermot Corrigan watched Perez's press conference today and joined Off The Ball to assess the overall situation and what it means for manager and president.
"Real Madrid, it's not just Saturday and that's an important thing, it's not just that they lost 4-0 and were completely out-played. It's been for a while now. Every big game they've had this season, they've not played well," said West.
"No one's fooled by any of this stuff about 'you printed that, he said that'. It doesn't matter. What matters is on the pitch and everyone can tell that what is happening there is not working at the moment and there is little faith that Benitez can make it work."
West also homed in on Perez's role in the crisis and how his standing among fans is "sinking fast" again like his past spell in charge of the club when the Galactico policy failed.
"There's a widespread recognition that this isn't only Benitez's fault, like it wasn't Ancelotti's fault, like it wasn't Mourinho's fault. It's the fault of the fact that the succession of coaches are having to work with their hands tied behind their backs because they're being given imbalanced squads, made up of glamorous players who are great players in their own right. But trying to get them to play together - because there's too many of the same kind of players and not a balanced squad - no manager can get the most out of that, especially when they've got pressure to play certain players every week. So it's a mess on the pitch and a lot of that is caused by the president meddling and the fact that he has too much power."
Download the brand new OffTheBall App in the Play Store & App Store right now! We've got you covered!
Subscribe to OffTheBall's YouTube channel for more videos, like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter for the latest sporting news and content.
