And with Real offering a stalemate in Benitez's first competitive game, the Prem giants will hope uncertainty ramps up in the Spanish capital before the transfer deadline shuts on September 2.
Cristiano Ronaldo - Spotlight On
Real couldn't score against modest Sporting Gijon despite fielding the likes of Ronaldo and Bale.
Benitez said: "We finished up playing a 4-3-3 formation to try to keep the players who could score high up the pitch, have more control in the middle and have the fullbacks offer width.
"I think that we managed all that but we lacked precision in the final ball and weren't clinical enough in front of goal.
"It's a matter of steadily improving our precision, our physical fitness and the way we function as a unit."
Gareth Bale - Spotlight On
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Real's next La Liga outing is at home to Real Betis on Saturday, when the demanding fans at the Bernabeu will be expecting entertaining football and a resounding victory.
Anything less and Benitez could already be subjected to the angry whistling that dogged Carlo Ancelotti's second and final season.
"Obviously the first half didn't go well and while we had more possession and had more of the initiative in the second, our chances didn't finish in goals and we weren't able to kill off the game," he said.
"This shows that there are teams in the first division that fully deserve to be here and it is going to be very tough to win at every stadium.