Benitez pleased despite Bayern defeat

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

Both sides swapped players around after having played just 24 hours previously, but it was Real Madrid who felt the pace in the second half, slipping to a Peter Lewandowski goal late in the game.

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 defense, but we lacked something going forward and it was hard to withstand the pace they set throughout the game," commented the Real Madrid boss.

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 this Sunday. Endi