Source: Telegraph
Real Madrid beckons Liverpool's Rafa Benitez
No, let's leave cheap jibes aside, for today Manchester City have a proper opportunity to make people sit up and take them seriously. A victory at Anfield, where Mark Hughes used to revel in the stimulus of being one of Manchester United's most detested players, would certainly do that, even if its by-product – a boost to United's Premier League chances – would be less welcome.[LNB]The requirement for Liverpool is rather more pressing. They simply must keep winning to maintain such strain as United may be feeling on the road to a second successive domestic title. And do it today without not only the still-hamstrung Steven Gerrard but Xabi Alonso, whose one-match ban would be regrettable enough without the likelihood that Lucas, himself having just completed a suspension, will take the Spaniard's place. Young Lucas is an extraordinarily indisciplined player, certainly by Brazilian standards; you always have the feeling he can turn a match, but not necessarily in his own team's direction.[LNB]Meanwhile, the politics surrounding Benitez's future constitute a sideshow that has become all too customary since the American takeover. It is understood that Tom Hicks and George Gillett disagree over the terms of a much-discussed new contract for the manager, who wants greater control over transfers in and out. If Benitez is not accommodated, speculation will grow that he himself is on the market – with the prime candidate for his signature none other than Real, the love of his early life, whose white shirts must have loomed large in his mind since the Champions League draw. He will want Gerrard for that one; the decision on whether he has recovered is expected tomorrow.[LNB]Alonso will, of course, return for the Bernabeu meeting with Real, for whom he would have made an excellent signing after Claude Makelele was allowed to slip away to Chelsea in 2003. Instead, Alonso remained in San Sebastian for another year before joining the Benitez project at Liverpool. He has since become a European champion at both club and international level, so probably does not feel he has missed out on too much. But Wednesday, and the return at Anfield, should provide an interesting indication of where a Spanish player – or manager – is best positioned to keep collecting the big trophies.[LNB]Real were national champions under Fabio Capello, but returned to punching below their weight under Bernd Schuster and were thus a handy refuge for Juande Ramos when his Tottenham adventure went wrong. Since virtually ceding the title at Barcelona in mid-December, Real's results have improved, but the Champions League offers a useful gauge of progress. Last season at this first knockout stage, they were beaten home and away by Roma, who promptly suffered the same fate at United's hands. Now they welcome a face from the past in Benitez, who, since winning two Spanish titles and the UEFA Cup at Valencia, has frequently been linked with a return to the club.[LNB]The nearest he got to the hottest seat in his 19 years with Real was to act as assistant to Vicente del Bosque (now Spain's national manager) for a few weeks in 1994. Benitez joined up at the age of 13 and played for the club's subsidiaries while a student at Madrid's sports university. But selection for Spain's team at the World Student Games in Mexico proved ill-fated, for he sustained an injury from which he never fully recovered. He stopped playing at 26 and became a coach, working his way through the ranks and making such an impression that he landed jobs at first Valladolid and Osasuna. At neither club did he last long.[LNB]At Extremadura, he achieved promotion and relegation. Next Benitez took a year out to study and his fortunes changed, because a spell at Tenerife led to Valencia, where his reputation soared. In 2004, when Liverpool beckoned, they got the next most fashionable thing to Jose Mourinho. A year later they were European champions. They have since been to another final and, while the English title remains the top priority for Liverpool fans, no stranger who attends a big European night at Anfield can be in any doubt that it is mainly a question of wanting what you cannot have.[LNB]Those with the winning mentality tend not to pick and choose: a point to which Benitez alluded on Friday when asked what he had learned at Real. "That to win is the only thing that counts,'' he replied. "You had to win every game and you could do it because you had very good players. When I was with the youth teams, sometimes we'd score 19 goals and not concede. When we did concede even one, I was disappointed.'' There has been quite a lot of disappointment around the Bernabeu lately, but for such a club the return to success is inevitable. With Benitez? "You never know what will happen,'' he said. "For now, my priority is to win with Liverpool.'' The two objectives are hardly inimical to each other. [LNB]
