Kiko Casilla has completed his first session with Real Madrid. The Catalan goalkeeper landed in Melbourne at 05:30, but he did not want to waste any time and at 10:30 he was already working under the orders of his new coach Rafa Benítez. He began his work alongside Xavi Valero (goalkeeping coaches) and the rest of the goalkeepers.
Despite the 17,000km trip, the time change and the jetlag, Casilla produced several saves and impressed on his first day of work with Real Madrid. The rest of the session proceeded normally. Karim Benzema, whose goalscoring touch has returned, stood out in the training match and in the exercises.
The training session ended with Benítez holding a discussion with his central midfielders (Toni Kroos, Luka Modric, Casemiro and Asier Illarramendi). With them he tried out movements and gave them instructions on when to press and when to move the ball. These little discussions are common under Benítez. He carried it out with his full-backs and his centre-backs during his first few days – now he has worked more closely with the midfielders. The coach works very meticulously.