"I would have liked that he had asked us to let him leave," said Begiristain of last week's decision. "It was difficult to find the appropriate exit for him.

"We had problems this season. He had trouble catching the errors before they turned into full-blown problems. There was a lack of reaction from him to what was happening in the dressing room."

Asked about the white handkerchiefs that were waved during last night's home defeat to Real Mallorca, Begiristain added: "It's a consequence of what has happened this season - and also the performance last week at Real Madrid."