Rafa Benitez defends relationship with Ronaldo, blasts Spanish press

Real Madrid manager Rafa Benitez is tired.

Tired of fielding queries about the status of Karim Benzema; tired of dealing with issues arising from his time at Liverpool; and, most recently, tired with the Spanish press writing headlines of a rift between himself and the club's star player, Cristiano Ronaldo.

Ronaldo was rested for the final game of Portugal's European Championship qualifiers and returns to his club battling minor injuries. But Benitez's strategy in managing Ronaldo's playing time is being misconstrued as a spoiled relationship, according to the Madrid boss.

"I had already spoken to Cristiano and that's why I said I had a good chat with him about resting, if Portugal qualified for the Euros," Benitez said. "When players go away with their national teams it's the manager who has to decide when they come back what shape they're in.

"The players will always tell you when you ask that they are fine, there's no problem and they want to play. I am tired of reading that I don't talk to him. I talk to Cristiano every day. And we talk in a normal way, about football, about the team, a little bit of everything. The normal things you talk to a footballer about.

"For Madrid fans, I would say that they should be in no doubt that the atmosphere in the Real Madrid squad is as good as or better than in any other dressing room I have been in. They are very competitive."

That Benitez had to reaffirm once more that he and his players are in good standing drew his ire in regards to the Spanish press, too. He has fielded a number of questions in recent weeks about rumours of off-field in-fighting among his ranks.

Related: Rafa Benitez denies rift between Cristiano Ronaldo, Gareth Bale

The Real Madrid boss has finally had enough, it seems, and he made a point to tell gathered press to cool it with the dramatics.

"There are some journalists who, for whatever reason, have interests that are different than the interests of Real Madrid and in many cases they publish stories that are not true," Benitez said. "It hurts me a lot when I see the Real Madrid squad being criticized, or the medical team, the staff, the club, over things that are not true.

"Out of respect and in order not to create any controversy we sometimes don't respond to everything that we know isn't true, but on occasion you have to say, 'Gentlemen, this is not the case.'"