Real Madrid earned a nervy 2-0 victory over Rayo Vallecano in their postponed La Liga match, which had to be played Monday because of lighting failure.
Benzema got rid of his goal drought with the opener in the 13th minute, off a pass from Angel Di Maria.
Crisitiano Ronaldo then made the game safe, 20 minutes from time, with a penalty. Barcelona lead the league table, with a perfect 15 points from 5 games, with Real eight points behind their rivals. In Monday's other game, goals from Alvaro Negredo and Ivan Rakitic helped Sevilla to a 2-0 victory over Deportivo La Coruna.
"If we had played with a similar attitude against Getafe and Sevilla (as we had tonight) we would have won those games," Mourinho told reporters.
"It was a tough game, a difficult game and we had to be at the least at our best in terms of concentration and motivation and it seems that the team responded well in that sense.
"Could we have played better? Yes, we could have played better even though our opponent pressured a lot and ran a lot and caused us problems.
"But my criticisms are always directed at my players' attitude and whether they are committed to the game and today the team was a team."
Mourinho admitted it was not ideal to see the game postponed to Monday. "It was not an easy situation for us, but it was not easy for them too," the Real manager said. "You come with the mentality to play, wait but are then forced to wait and wait for confirmation, and you don't play."
Real striker Gonzalo Higuain has no doubts about Real's capabilities to reduce the gap between his side and Barcelona. "It was an important game. We came here on the back of a large gap behind Barcelona and had the intention of getting the three points. It was very difficult," he said.
"Must we treat all of our remaining games as finals? We're at the fifth matchday, there is still much to play for. The distance is important but plenty more matches ahead. 33 games is an eternity and we're going to fight until the end.
"At times, we seemed akin to the Real Madrid of last season, but we did not take advantage of all the chances we created. The penalty was good for us, along with the red card.
"I think the team were good overall. We still have room for improvement but we started well in the Champions League, that's a fact."
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