Zenit St Petersburg midfielder Axel Witsel admits he came close to joining Real Madrid when with Benfica.

The move fell through, but the 26-year-old insisted he wasn't too upset when the chance passed him by.

"When I was at Benfica I had the chance to go to Real Madrid, though it didn't come about for various reasons," he said.

"I wasn't down about it for very long though, and I turned the page quickly. I'm 26, I'm still young and I'm a pretty patient kind of person.

"Even so, it was Real Madrid we're talking about here, and when the idea was put to me I did picture a few things in my mind. "