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Benitez pleads for time

Benitez pleads for time

08/28/2010 05:42:13 AM

New Inter Milan boss Rafael Benitez has pleaded with the club's expectant supporters that he needs time for his new side to gel.

Jose Mourinho won the Serie A, Champions League and Coppa Italia last season with Inter, but Benitez failed to repeat the Portuguese boss' success with major trophies as the Italians were defeated in the UEFA Super Cup 2-0 by Atletico Madrid on Friday.

Goals from Jose Antonio Reyes and Sergio Aguero gave the Spaniards the victory as Benitez failed in his first European test as Inter boss.

"It's clear that we will need some time to get the right mix," Benitez said.

"We need to keep some things the same as the way the team played in the past and change other things."

Benitez pointed to the team's lack of fitness and gruelling World Cup schedule as reasons why they were second-best in the clash between last year's Champions League and Europa League winners.

"Maybe our team wasn't quite as fit as them and we weren't as intense as we could have been against a team that was physically stronger," he said.

The former Liverpool boss also conceded Atletico were physically and tactically stronger.

Atletico manager Quique Sanchez Flores was rapt with his side's performance.

"We're extremely pleased to have won this final - that was our goal," Flores said.

"We think we can feel very happy indeed and we want to share this with all our fans. We were fast and strong and each goal was clear cut, so we played well."

Flores praised the defensive efforts of his side as Inter's attacking right-back Maicon was subdued.

"Inter work very well defensively and I imagined Maicon might cause problems going forward, but Simao and Alvaro Dominguez negated him very well," Flores said.

Flores stated Atletico's desire for the upcoming campaign was to top last season's ninth-place finish in La Liga.

"Our goals this season are fairly distinct. We want to up our performance in the Spanish league as we only did so-so in that competition last year. We also want to win a cup - it will be tough, but the team is playing quite well."

 
Photograph Copyright : Getty Images

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