Benitez faces tough test at Leicester

Newly-appointed Newcastle boss takes on league leaders in first game in charge

LONDON: Rafael Benitez’s mission to haul Newcastle United out of the Premier League relegation zone begins in unfavourable circumstances as his new club visit leaders Leicester City.

Appointed manager on a three-year contract on Friday following Steve McClaren’s dismissal, Benitez has just 10 games to steer the big-spending northeast giants to safety.

Benitez has made his name as a trophy-winner with some of Europe’s most glamorous clubs, but he believes that his experience will prove equally valid in a relegation dogfight.





“I was at Real Madrid as an academy coach, then the second division, first division, and I have experience of promotion and relegation,” he said during his introductory press conference on Saturday. “At the end it’s more or less the same. It’s about how you approach the games and analyse things. You have to be sure everybody is giving everything.”

A trip to the King Power Stadium carried little danger during Benitez’s last season in English football in 2012-13, when he steered Chelsea to Europa League glory as interim manager.



At the time Leicester were an upwardly mobile Championship outfit, but three years on they remain on course for arguably the most spectacular title success in the history of the English top flight.

“The league this year is crazy,” said Leicester manager Claudio Ranieri, whose side won 1-0 at Watford in their last outing. “You know my ideas. I still have these ideas. Every decade or 20 years, something strange could happen.” 

Published in The Express Tribune, March 14^th, 2016.

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