Rafael Banitez

Born: April 4, 1960Archive: Select ManagerA. McLeishA. WengerC. AncelottiD. MoyesF. CapelloG. MegsonG. ZolaH. RedknappM. HughesM. O'NeillM. McCarthyO. CoyleP. HartP. BrownR. BenitezR. MartinezR. HodgsonS. AllardyceS. FergusonS. BruceT. Pulis Birthplace: Madrid, Spain
Previous Clubs: Valencia, Tenerife, Extremadura, Osasuna, Real Valladolid, Real Madrid B
Honours: Spanish Championship: 2004, 2002; UEFA Cup: 2004; UEFA Champions League: 2005; European Super Cup: 2005; FA Cup: 2006; FA Community Shield: 2006
Dale Johnson and Henry May




Since joining Liverpool from Valencia in 2004, the elusive Premier League title has remained out of this studious Spaniard's grasp. However, his reign has seen a revival of a club that, apart from a brief renaissance under Gerard Houllier, had been in the doldrums for far too long. Benitez, committed to the club until 2014 after signing a five-year extension to his contract, believes he can be the man to return the club to glory.


CliveBrunskill/GettyImages

Benitez won the UEFA Cup and the Spanish title with Valencia


Having won the UEFA Cup with the Spanish outfit in 2004 , Benitez would become only the third manager in history to follow the victory with Champions League success the next year with Liverpool.



Despite this success and the FA Cup win in 2006, Benitez's time at Anfield has been under constant scrutiny and his pursuit of Gareth Barry in the summer of 2008 revealed strained relations among the club's hierachy. The departure of Rick Parry, who was a rival to the Spaniard in a civil war that has wracked the club since its takeover by Americans George Gillett and Tom Hicks in early 2007, one such consequence.



Benitez's playing career never really got going, but the man in the Anfield hot seat has a managerial CV to match most. He was on Real Madrid's books as a player. After joining the Spanish giants as a youngster in 1974, Benitez hung around for seven years in the hope of getting a first team game.



Unfortunately, he had no such luck and left in 1981 without having played a single game. The 21-year-old Benitez moved on to Third Division side Parla, helping them to promotion in 1983. After joining Segunda B side Linares, Benitez endured a lengthy spell on the sidelines which saw to the end of his playing days. He hung up his boots in 1986 and returned to Real, this time as a coach.



'Rafa' worked his way up through the Real junior teams, and soon had control of the Under-19s. The early highlight of his managerial apprenticeship came in 1994 when he led Real Madrid's B side to seventh in Spain's second division.



Vicente Del Bosque took note of Benitez's talents and allowed him to end the 1995 season as his assistant. Benitez was earning a sound reputation as a calm and calculating tactician, impressing Del Bosque with the training sessions he took.



He got his first major job when he took up the managerial post at Valladolid but was sacked after a disastrous 23 games, which had left the team at the bottom of the Primera Liga.



He failed to impress, either, at Osasuna, winning just one game out of nine during his brief tenure as boss. After two consecutive failures in management, Benitez was granted the chance to resurrect his career with second division Extremadura in 1997. He led them to promotion, finishing an excellent second in the table. However after only one season his team was relegated, losing a play-off to Villarreal.



Not one to stomach a fight at that stage in his career, Benitez decided to take a year out in England and Italy to brush up on his coaching skills and add a few more qualifications to his CV.



He returned from his sabbatical in 2001 a new man, and Valencia were so impressed by his application to replace Hector Cuper that he got the job, one of the top positions in Spain. Benitez was a surprise choice, and Valencia fans were disgruntled. However the mild mannered yet sturdy Spaniard inherited a very talented squad, and brought the first league title in 31 years to the Mestalla.



The success of the 2001-02 season was not followed up , as they faded away to fifth place, but a quarter-final place in the Champions League appeased most doubters. Benitez got Valencia back on track the following season and in some style too, as he clinched their first ever double by winning the league and the UEFA cup.



After three very successful years with the Spanish club, the ambitious Benitez was contacted by Liverpool, and his contract at Valencia was cancelled by mutual consent at the start of June 2004. Liverpool got their man, a surprise choice to many, when Benitez was appointed later that month. It was clear from the outset of his reign that the Spaniard would have to stay calm and focused even if results didn't go his way.



Allegedly Benitez once described himself as a ''loner with a laptop'' due to the amount of time he spent alone masterminding tactics on a computer - he is obsessed by football, and by his job, in a similar way to the other continental manager to arrive in England over the summer - one Jose Mourinho (whom, as rumour has it, Liverpool approached before Benitez).



One of Benitez's first actions was to help Michael Owen through the Anfield exit door. Antonio Nunez moved to Anfield as a makeweight in the deal but proved to be more of a lightweight. Benitez's next action proved more impressive.



In winning the Champions League in his first season, Rafa followed Mourinho in winning both European trophies in back-to-back seasons. Masterminding an incredible comeback in Istanbul to beat AC Milan on penalties after going down 3-0 at half-time, Rafa wrote himself into Liverpool folklore.



AlexLivesey/GettyImages

Rafael Benitez: Brought European glory back to Anfield

Benitez followed the success with the acquisitions of Mohamed Sissoko, José Reina and Daniel Agger, as well as former Liverpool player (and fan favourite) Robbie Fowler to the club and the signings appeared to work. Liverpool finished the year in the third place, only narrowly missing out on second. The Reds also won the FA Cup final in a thrilling penalty shoot-out against West Ham.


In 2006-07, Liverpool build on their success and Benitez reaffirmed his commitment to the club. A tough side to play in Europe, Liverpool beat Barcelona, PSV and Chelsea on route to another final - this time in Athens, Greece - but lost in a replay of the 2005 final to AC Milan.



That season, Liverpool had been bought by American billionaires Tom Hicks and George Gillett. With a large transfer budget, Benitez broke the transfer record to sign Spanish striker Fernando Torres from Athletico Madrid as well as signing young Dutch winger Ryan Babel, West Ham winger Yossi Benayoun, Andriy Voronin on a Bosman and Brazilian midfielder Lucas Leiva.



The new signings did not bring the elusive Premier League title (despite Torres proving himself to be one of the best strikers in the league) and the Reds faded, finishing the season in 4th and failing to reach the final of the Champions League after losing to Chelsea.

The summer of 2008 saw Benitez try to strengthen further by bringing Gareth Barry to the club, but the club's owners wouldn't sanction at £18m that it would take to bring him in. Instead, Liverpool signed Robbie Keane for £20.3m and added to their defence as well. Keane's signing proved to be ill-fated, as he returned to Spurs for a deal believed to be around £12m.




Benitez's prickly nature gave rise to both the Keane affair and a pre-prepared press interview in which he levelled criticism at Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson, quoting a series of "facts" about his rival manager. That this coincided with a loss of Liverpool form and their concession of a title lead to United caused much criticism of the Anfield boss.




So too, the wringing out of a lengthy contract negotiation. That he signed a new deal after a weekus mirabilis of beating Real Madrid and United can surely have been no coincidence either. But as Liverpool fans proclaim "In Rafa We Trust" - he will be with them for some time to come.