Source: Daily_Mail
Red mist: Kop stars in angry bust-up and then bitter Rafa refuses to congratulate Fergie
Liverpool's frustration at losing out to Manchester United in the title race boiled over when two of their stars were involved in an ugly bust-up on the pitch.
And manager Rafa Benitez added to the bad feeling by refusing to congratulate rival Sir Alex Ferguson on his 11th title success at United.
Jamie Carragher and Alvaro Arbeloa had to be restrained by team-mates as they squared up to each other during the 2-0 away win over West Bromwich Albion which confirmed relegation for Tony Mowbray's side.
The furious players went head-to-head as they rowed over who was to blame whenWest Bromwich went close to scoring minutes from the end of the game.
Albion's bad day became worse when it was confirmed that their striker Roman Bednar has been suspended following allegations he bought illegal drugs.
Explaining the onfield clash between his players, Benitez claimed: 'You could see whyCarragher was like he was, we wanted to keep another clean sheet - Pepe Reina has 20 clean sheets, Edwin van der Sar (United goalkeeper) has 21.'
Carragher tried to play down the incident with Arbeloa, saying: 'It happened in the heat of the moment. It's forgotten.'
Admitting his disappointment at missing out on the title, Carragher added: 'It's hard towin the Premier League because our top four teams plus Barcelona are probably the best five sides in Europe. That's the challenge we face.'
The Liverpool manager's feud with Ferguson sank to new depths when he twice avoided praising his rival after United equalled Liverpool by taking their league title tally to 18.
He said: 'I say congratulations to Manchester United. They have done well. I prefer to say my congratulations to them. They are a good club, a big club.'
Pressed upon whether he would send a letter, as per tradition, to the title-winning boss, he added: 'I've had normally to be polite and respect the other manager at the end of the season. He has said a lot of things I didn't like. I say congratulations to Manchester United because they have won. And that's it.'
Fourmonths ago, Benitez aired a list of grievances against Ferguson, who retorted that something must have 'disturbed' the Spaniard.
Liverpool boss Rafael Benitez saw his side win at West Brom but then refused to congratulate Sir Alex Ferguson on Manchester United's title triumph
Benitez pointed to the strength of the two clubs' respective squads as to why he has lost out in the league.
'They have quality, especially the quality on the bench,' he said. 'Against us they had Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes and Dimitar Berbatov on the bench. When they can change players of this value, these players can make the difference.
'So they have these kind of players, we have less of these. When you pay £20-£30million for each of these players, it is easier.'
