Mourinho exit has hurt Real Madrid, says Cannavaro

The Italian says that the current Chelsea boss' departure has affected los Blancos' form, while he also feels that the Spaniards did not need to sign Gareth Bale

Former Real Madrid defender Fabio Cannavaro believes the Santiago Bernabeu side are still recovering from Jose Mourinho's exit.

The Portuguese coach opted to leave the Spanish capital in the summer in order to return to Chelsea and Cannavaro thinks los Blancos have yet to come to terms with the loss of the two-time Champions League winner.

"Madrid have had a bad start, but there's still a long way to go," the Italy legend was quoted as saying by Marca.

"They are finding it hard to move on after Mourinho's departure. He's a coach who makes a big impact.

"The same has happened at all the teams that he's coached."

Cannavaro then went on to discuss the arrival of Gareth Bale at Madrid and suggested that the Welshman might not be player head coach Carlo Ancelotti really needed.

"It's hard to find players like Gonzalo Higuain and Mesut Ozil, but the club really wanted to sign Bale," the World Cup winner mused.

"He is a brilliant player, but maybe Madrid needed more skill than speed in order to achieve what Ancelotti wants to do."

Bale has made four appearances for los Blancos so far, scoring once in the process.