Source: Daily_Mail
You've lost it! United boss Ferguson taunts Benitez over Chelsea rout
Sir Alex Ferguson yesterday taunted Rafael Benitez over Liverpool's dramatic Champions League collapse and claimed Chelsea are now the main threat to Manchester United's Barclays Premier League title hopes.
Benitez re-ignited his long-running war of words with Ferguson on the eve of Liverpool's European clash Chelsea in midweek, claiming the United manager's habit of talking about Liverpool showed he was 'scared' of his arch-rivals.
But after seeing Chelsea romp to an emphatic 3-1 win at Anfield, Ferguson wasted no time in mocking Benitez in a manner which suggested he had succeeded in distracting the Spaniard.
He said: 'The interesting thing as far as Rafa Benitez is concerned is that he's got a European tie and he's talking about Alex Ferguson. Fantastic! I didn't know I was that important.'
Asked if he had got under the skin of the Liverpool boss, Ferguson folded his arms and sat back with a satisfied grin.
'I have no more comment to make!' he added, with the mischief of a man who knew he had already said more than enough.
'If you ask me a question about other teams I'll give you an opinion. There's no fault in that.
'Arsene Wenger was talking about Manchester United a couple of weeks ago, which I tried to dampen down as much as I could because I know the dangers of that. But he was asked a question and he gave a fair answer.'
Ferguson believes the nature of Chelsea's win over Liverpool will now give them the impetus to press United until the end of the season a point endorsed by Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger yesterday.
Sir Alex even compared the impact of the victory to Ryan Giggs's Cup semi-final winner against Arsenal which propelled United to the Treble a decade ago.
'Chelsea will be absolutely buoyed up,' said Ferguson. 'You saw the celebrations at the end. They knew it was an emphatic result. They'll be flying at the moment.
