Marcelo blames Madrid failure on Benitez era

Real Madrid left-back Marcelo has blamed his team's failure in La Liga on their poor start under Rafael Benitez.

Madrid went into their final match of the season at Deportivo La Coruna on Saturday just one point behind bitter rivals Barcelona, but their 2-0 win at the Riazor was ultimately in vain, as a Luis Suarez hat-trick in Granada sealed the title for Luis Enrique and his side.

Many considered Madrid lucky to even have a chance of winning the title on the final day after they were 10 points adrift going into April, with most pointing the finger at Benitez's turbulent time in charge, which ended in January, as the root cause.

And Marcelo is no different, as he rued Madrid's struggles earlier in the season and even suggested that being just a point behind Barca on the final day was an achievement in itself after an improvement under Zinedine Zidane.

"It's hard when Madrid does not win titles," he told reporters. 

"It is very difficult to always win the league. We started badly, but until the end we could win [the title]. We have improved a lot and we have a final yet.

"We have had a good second half of the season and now we will work hard for these 14 days so we can perform well in a match that will be very difficult."