Benitez accuses press of trying to destabilise Real Madrid

The former Liverpool and Chelsea boss also hit out at "invented" scandals, alluding to a supposed dispute between star forwards Cristiano Ronaldo and Gareth Bale.

"There are scandals that are invented, all the time. I'm surprised by the quantity of things that come out of Real Madrid that aren't true," fumed Benitez at the pre-match press conference ahead of Saturday's Bernabeu clash with Levante.

"There are people who think this is the type of fashionable journalism at the moment and that they have to keep doing it to sell (papers).

"There's a lot of media, web pages, blogs, newspapers, radio... They have to keep blowing up scandals because it's easier to sell that way.

"There are people, I don't know why, who have no interest in things going well for Real Madrid, and who want to destabilise us a little bit."

Benitez denied rumours of a rift between Ronaldo and Bale, saying: "The atmosphere in the camp is very good, the players get on well."

Unbeaten Real currently sit second in La Liga, a point behind surprise early pace-setters Villarreal and above Celta Vigo and Barcelona on goal difference.

Next week, Real play a crunch Champions League tie against their main group rivals Paris Saint-Germain.