Real Madrid president Florentino Perez has dismissed calls to bring forward the club's elections.

Florentino called a media conference last night to confirm coach Rafa Benitez.

He was also asked about protests against him during the defeat to Barcelona: “I respect every demonstration by the club members; they are demanding and they have a right to be. Do I think that there is a smear campaign against me? I think that's true, we all know it."

On bringing forward the presidential elections, he added: “We haven't even talked about that. We're focused on what happened on Friday and decided to address the doubts by showing our support for the manager. He's capable of turning around a deteriorating situation that began in January."