Benitez expects hot reception for reds
Rafael Benitez returns to Spain next week with his Champions League winners expecting an altogether more hostile reception to that which followed Liverpool’s European triumph.
The former Valencia boss was revered from afar after achieving the unthinkable in his first season at Liverpool, with his reputation enhanced across Europe but particularly in Spain after May’s victory over AC Milan in Istanbul.
He won two Primera Liga titles and a UEFA Cup with Valencia, before surpassing those achievements in his first season at Anfield, and Benitez was duly linked with Real Madrid after Liverpool’s triumph.
Because of the Spanish influence at Liverpool, where Josemi, Xabi Alonso, Luis Garcia and Antonio Nunez were among the Champions League-winning squad, the interest in their run to the final was amplified.
As Alonso recalled: “Many Spanish fans started to follow Liverpool in the tournament and wanted us to win the final, and they were delighted when we did so.
“I got so many messages and calls from home wishing me luck and saying everyone was supporting Liverpool.”
New Liverpool goalkeeper Jose Reina was among the club’s new fan-base.
“I watched the final at home in Spain with some of my friends and everyone wanted Liverpool to win,” he said. “To now be playing for the club is a dream for me.”
But Benitez takes his team to southern Spain this week for Tuesday’s Champions League first-round game against Real Betis, and his players are now marked men.
“Fans in Seville are among the most passionate in Spain, and the atmosphere for the Betis game will tremendous. They will make it hard for us,” said Benitez.
Benitez once likened Seville to Liverpool when asked if there was any rivalry in Spain to match the ferocity of a Merseyside derby.
He said: “The atmosphere at the derbies reminded me of Seville, where the rivalry between two clubs in the city in unlike anything else in Spain.”
Betis will be making their debut in the Champions League, after finishing fourth in Spain last season and winning the Spanish Cup.
Benitez said: “I know from talking to people in Seville is that all Betis are thinking about is playing us, and that makes it more difficult for us because this is also their first season in the Champions League.
“They are a good team and they have fantastic support which is a great help for them.”
One of Benitez’s Spanish recruits, former Real Madrid striker Fernando Morientes, misses the trip.
But his hamstring injury, sustained on international duty, is not as bad as first feared and he could be back in a fortnight.
Benitez has been left angered by Morientes returning from Spain with his injury.
“If you have players injured with their international teams it is important national associations pay the wages or compensation,” he argued.
“I had the same problem in Valencia. Players can come back from playing for their countries and be out for a month, two months, three months, a season or even a year.
“I think this is a rule than needs to be changed.”
