GOALS
GALORE
Rafael Benitez
2.76
Carlo Ancelotti
2.71*
Jose Mourinho
2.67
Manuel Pellegrini
2.48
Zinedine Zidane
2.25
Guus Hiddink
2.15
Miguel Munoz
2.03
Vicente
del Bosque
2.00
Fabio Capello
1.91
Alfredo Di Stefano
1.74*Figure correct
as of July 15, 2021
Rafa had the top
goals-per-game
ratio of any Real
Madrid gaffer
since Manuel
Fleitas Solich in- These top
bosses couldn’t
match Benitez...
ImagePAfan in Slovakia put on Twitter that I’d said I wouldn’t go to Chelsea – I
didn’t say that.”
Rafa also shrugs off memories of the banners that several home
fans held up at Stamford Bridge, outlining their opposition to his
appointment.
“There weren’t too many, to be honest, and they were A4
banners,” he says. “There was animosity from some fans, but I can
show you a lot of messages from players, [director] Marina
Granovskaia, Abramovich and [technical director] Michael Emenalo.
When we played two friendlies at the end of the season against
Manchester City in New York, they took me to dinner and said, ‘Thanks
very much’.”
That was because Benitez had helped the club overcome a rocky
start to the season under Roberto Di Matteo. Rafa led the Blues to 3rd
spot in the Premier League and an automatic Champions League
place, before lifting the Europa League thanks to Branislav Ivanovic’s
last-gasp header against Benfica in Amsterdam.
“The main thing for Abramovich was to be in the top three – that
was his priority,” explains Benitez. “They were really pleased with
that, and at the same time, we won the Europa League.
“Again, credit to my staff, because we were practising corners
before the game. Benfica had zonal marking, but with a diagonal line.
We were trying to block the last man and attack with Ivanovic at the
back post. We practised in training and Juan Mata was a disaster
kicking the ball! But in the last minute of the final, we got a corner,
Mata kicked the ball perfectly, Ivanovic scored and we won.”
Benitez was only ever scheduled to spend six months in west
London. Leaving Real Madrid after seven months was a little more
unexpected. Appointed manager before the 2015-16 campaign, he
was shown the door by Florentino Perez at the turn of the year, before
Zinedine Zidane swept in and won the Champions League that same
season as the first of three consecutive triumphs.“I’d had the offer from Real Madrid two or three times before,”
reveals Benitez, who had, after all, kicked off his managerial career
with a spell in charge of the club’s B team. “I thought, ‘OK, maybe now
is the time’. I had more experience. But we lost at home to Barcelona.
“The fans were against the president, and that was the key point. As
soon as the fans are upset with the decisions at the top, the manager
is under pressure. People don’t remember that we were only two
points behind Barça, that we scored eight goals against Malmo and
10 against Rayo Vallecano, and that we had finished top of our
Champions League group ahead of Paris Saint-Germain.”
The biggest setback came when Los Blancos were thrown out of the
Copa del Rey for fielding the ineligible Denis Cheryshev in a game
against third-tier Cadiz, because of confusion over a suspension carried
over from the previous campaign. “When we picked Cheryshev, I
asked the team manager three times,” recalls Benitez, ruefully. “I
said, ‘Any problems?’ They said, ‘No, no chance’. I said, ‘OK, fine’. Three
times – the day before, when we picked the squad, and two times on
the day of the game.”
But Benitez is keen to dispel the perception that he endured a
difficult relationship with Real’s star players. He denies reports that he
angered Cristiano Ronaldo by asking the forward to undergo a study
to improve his free-kick accuracy.
“No, not true,” he insists. “I was analysing his free-kicks when he
was at Manchester United – that was the only conversation I had
with him about free-kicks, and I think he was fine. I didn’t practise
free-kicks with him, because I knew he was a top-class player. He was
a worker; he was taking care of himself. He was not a problem.”“I’M n OT APPLYIn G TO BE En GLAn D MAn AGER”
Benitez’s Dalian Yifang contract runs until the end of 2021. He would like
to return to the Premier League one day. “For sure,” he says. “I decided
to join Dalian because the top six in England was difficult and the other
teams close to the top six had managers, so you can either stay at
home watching the telly or do what you enjoy: coaching players.
“I want to compete, and if I can’t compete at the level I want – to
win trophies – then I want a project to build something, so that later
you are more competitive. In the meantime, if they pay you lots of
money, fine. What can I say?”
Does he believe he deserves another crack at a top-six job in
England? “The problem,” he admits, “is that Chelsea and Manchester
United were almost impossible for me because people talk about
things in the past. Manchester City and Liverpool won’t change, Spurs
won’t change, and Arsenal appointed Unai Emery.”
Had Arsenal been a possibility, when Arsene Wenger departed the
club in 2018? “At the beginning they were talking options, but you
never know until they decide,” says Benitez.
What about the England job? Would he fancy that one day if Gareth
Southgate moved on? “I want to coach every week,” he affirms. “But
in a couple of years? You never know. I’m open to anything.
“But,” he adds with a knowing smile, “that’s not ‘Rafa is applying to
be the England manager’.”
One way or another, it’s likely that he will be back in the English game
at some point. Until his return, he will continue to pour his heart and
soul into the job he is doing, because Benitez knows no other way. His
aim is crystal clear. “We want to leave a legacy,” he says. “We want to
be sure that when we leave, they say, ‘OK, they did a good job’.”
It’s a sentiment that fans of Liverpool and Newcastle can more
than identify with. In two of England’s biggest cities, Rafa Benitez’s
legacy is already secure – and that’s a fact.“FAnS COMPARE MY ‘FACTS’ PRESS
COnFEREnCE WITH KEVIn KEEGAn’S,
BUT I WAS VERY CALM. AnD IF YOU
AnALYSE IT TODAY, I WAS RIGHT”
RAFA
BEn ITEZ