Real Madrid boss Rafa Benitez accepts Barcelona are the "benchmark" this season.

But he insists they can be hurt in El Clasico games.

Benitez told El Pais: "In Spain we have not only Barcelona. There Is Atletico, Valencia, Sevilla, which is doing very well ...

"But it is true that Barcelona is the champion and the benchmark.

'If we have the ball more than them, they will suffer more because it is a team used to having it.

"We must not let them have the ball, we must retrieve it and hurt them. It will not be easy."