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Real Madrid coach Benitez pleased despite Bayern defeat

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Munich: Real Madrid coach Rafael Benitez was a satisfied man despite seeing his side slip to their second pre-season defeat away to Bayern Munich.

Real Madrid slipped to a Peter Lewandowski goal late in the game here on Wednesday night, reports Xinhua.

The defeat is the second of the pre-season preparations after Benitez’s men had previously fallen on penalties against Roma in Melbourne, but the coach was satisfied with what he’d seen.

“We go away pleased with what we’ve gained in terms of experience and teamwork, but sad at having lost the game, although we lost to a good side,” he said in the Spanish media on Thursday.

His side was without the injured Karim Benzema and rested Gareth Bale and lacked punch in attack, but the coach concentrated on their defensive performance.

“We’re pleased with our work in defence, but we lacked something going forward and it was hard to withstand the pace they set throughout the game,” commented the Real Madrid coach.

Benitez’s problems were increased when central defender Pepe had to leave the pitch with a calf injury after 15 minutes.

“We always knew that playing two games in two days was going to be tough. We thought playing Pepe might be risky so in order to avoid any problems we took him off.

We did not want to take any unnecessary risks. The important thing is to have our players fit going forward, not to focus on this result,” he insisted.

Real Madrid’s next game is against Valerenga in Oslo on Sunday.

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Sunil Gavaskar gives his opinion of GT allrounder Rahul Tewatia

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The left-handed batsman from Haryana is garnering praise from all quarters for the way he’s finishing games regularly in the most exciting IPL season.

Gavaskar reckons Tewatia’s whirlwind knock in Sharjah (in IPL 2020) where he smashed West Indies pacer Sheldon Cottrell for five sixes in an over, gave him the confidence that he belongs to the big stage.

Speaking on Cricket Live on Star Sports, Gavaskar said, “That assault on Sheldon Cottrell in Sharjah gave him the belief to do the impossible and the confidence that he belongs here. We saw the impossible (he did with the bat) the other day as well. There’s no twitching or touching the pads (which shows a batter’s nervousness) when he bats in the death overs. He just waits for the ball to be delivered and plays his shots. He’s got all the shots in the book, but most importantly his temperament to stay cool in a crisis is brilliant.”

Gavaskar has also nicknamed the 28-year-old cricketer the ‘ice-man’ and lauded Tewatia’s ability to remain unruffled during the tense moments.

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