Guillem Balague believes the El Clasico fiasco could cost Rafael Benitez the Real Madrid job

Respected Spanish journalist Guillem Balague has come out and stoked a flame surrounding the potential sacking of Real Madrid manager Rafael Benitez, Joe.co.uk reported. He feels that the shambles of the El Clasico could be the Spaniard’s ticket out of the club.

One of the most talked about topics in the aftermath of the 4-0 thumping Real Madrid received against their rivals Barcelona was the Los Blancos manager’s job. It’s been widely speculated that club president Florentino Perez is looking to soon replace Rafael Benitez with Real Madrid B coach Zinedine Zidane.

The Sky Sports pundit pointed out that it wasn’t just the result that was the issue but the way that Real Madrid were so easily bypassed by their rivals that could draw the ire of the club’s management.

He said: “There is no way whatsoever that this kind of performance - we're not even talking about the result - but the performance, will have no consequences. It has to have consequences. That's how Real Madrid works.

“That means of course that Florentino Perez will probably get rid of the manager, and if that's the case, what is next? Yet another manager.”

Real Madrid have only lost 2 games this season including the El Clasico loss and in their journey so far had a stellar defensive record till they played Real Sociedad. Since then they have conceded 7 in only 2 games.

Although, the manager and the team have come under some fire because they’re believed to be underperforming this season. Even though Balague believes that the performances have not been the manager’s fault alone, it could be he who bears the brunt.

“This is a problem for Real Madrid that will not change unless the whole idea and whole philosophy changes. The business plan is brilliant - they're very, very rich. The football plan is very poor, and under Florentino Perez they have won one league in seven years, which suggests that his idea of putting big names on the pitch does not work.

"Of course, Rafa is not the only one to blame, but it's almost much easier to get rid of the manager,” Balague said.

Of course there is much of the season still to go, but Barcelona already have opened up a 6 point gap between them and Benitez’s side and Lionel Messi has just returned to action for them from injury. Couple that with the superb form of Neymar and Suarez and it looks highly unlikely that they will slow down anytime soon.