Karanka: No need to explain Casillas snub

Real Madrid assistant coach Aitor Karanka does not feel that Jose Mourinho has any obligation to explain his decision to bench Iker Casillas last week.

Casillas has been a mainstay in the Madrid squad for the past ten years but was not selected for the starting XI against Malaga. The club lost 3-2 at La Rosaleda in the game with a goal by Isco and a Roque Santa Cruz double within three second-half minutes raising several questions for the decision to start with deputy goalkeeper Antonio Adan when Casillas was fit and ready.

The defeat, Madrid's seventh in all competitions, has also further increased the gap with league leaders Barcelona and they now trail the Catalan giants by a whopping 16 points.

Many news outlets in Spain believe that the decision was taken after a falling out between the goalkeeper and the coaching staff but Karanka moved to quell such rumours.

"Mourinho doesn't have to justify why a player plays or not. But he knows which players need explanations more than others," Karanka told Marca.

"Iker wasn't given any explanation about why he was dropped. As a coach, you pick whoever you think is going to do the best job.

"No coach puts out a 11 players to lose a game."

Speculation is also rife that the Portuguese is fed up of life in the high-pressure environment at the Bernabeu but Karanka insists that he is not thinking about his boss making a shock departure. He did concede, however, that Mourinho is not too eager to carry out media-handling responsibilities and the Spaniard is more than ready to relieve such duties on behalf of the outspoken first-team coach.

"[I do] not to think about the future [without Mourinho]. When the time comes to make a decision, we will look for a solution.

"A while ago he told me I would have to face the media regularly. This is because he doesn't have a good relationship with journalists.

"We must just win every game now."

The capital club face Real Sociedad after the end of their winter break on January 6.