Former Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez has insisted that he did not lose his head, as some have claimed, in the title race with Manchester United in the 2008/09 season.
Benitez took Liverpool close to winning the title in that season but fell just two points short of Sir Alex Ferguson’s Manchester United team, who won a third title in a row.
It is widely suggested that Benitez’s press conference rant against Manchester United and Ferguson in the middle of the season was a pivotal point and put more pressure on Liverpool.
But the former Liverpool boss dismissed the suggestion and pointed towards the performance of his side and their record that season to establish his argument.
He insisted that the Reds lost out on the title as Manchester United were just better over the course of the campaign.
Benitez wrote in his column for The Athletic: “People still talk about ‘Rafa’s Rant’, the press conference I gave in the January when they said Sir Alex Ferguson was getting under my skin.
“After that, I remembering going to Old Trafford and seeing a banner which read ‘Rafa Is Cracking Up’. I also remember beating them 4-1.
“The day after my press conference, we drew 0-0 at Stoke City, when Steven Gerrard hit the woodwork twice.
“We only lost twice in the Premier League that season and, of our last 11 matches, we won 10 and drew the other one, 4-4 at home to Arsenal. It wasn’t a case of cracking up.
“Manchester United had two games in hand and they won them, often in the last minute — ‘Fergie Time’, and the rest of it.
“We couldn’t do it because they did better and that’s it.”
It took Liverpool another five years to challenge for the title again under Brendan Rodgers in the 2013/14 season.
