Ronaldo the latest high-profile player to clash with Rafa
Rafa Benitez continues with his personal tradition and has made an enemy of Real Madrid’s biggest star, Cristiano Ronaldo. The Spanish coach is known for having disagreements with his players at the teams he has managed and it seems Los Blancos will not be an exception.
At SPORT, we have analysed all the different problems he has had with various clubs to gain a better understanding of the current situation.
Liverpool 2004-10 — Gerrard, Alonso, Riera, the board
Benitez’s managerial career took off at Valencia, where he was very successful. In 2004, though, he decided to leave for the Premier League and Liverpool. His arrival was spectacular and he helped them win the Champions League.
Problems surfaced in 2007 when the club was sold to new owners, though. He clashed with the new board in 2010, leaving soon after that. During his time at Anfield, he had problems with Albert Riera and Xabi Alonso due to his demanding training methods, and Gerrard, a Liverpool legend, has recently admitted he’s not a fan of the Spaniard.
Inter Milan 2010 — Materazzi, Zanetti, Milito, Cambiaso, Moratti
Maybe the worst decision Benitez made was to move to Inter Milan after Liverpool. The Italian side had just won the Champions League under Jose Mourinho. The shadow left by the Portuguese coach was too big and the most important players in the squad rallied against Benitez.
Players like Materazzi (in the video below), Zanetti, Diego Milito and Cambiasso didn’t waste any time when it came to questioning his decision and publicly confronted him. The final clash was with Moratti, which cost him his job in the month of December.
Chelsea 2012 — Lampard and Terry
After two years out of work, Benitez returned to the Premier League to take over at Chelsea. The fans of the Blues has not forgiven him for events when he was manager of Liverpool and never let up on him during his stay in London.
Benitez decided to put John Terry on the bench. The Chelsea captain didn’t have a fluid communication with his coach and he was accused of not being able to play two games in a row. As for Lampard, he explained that “he is not the type of manager who you can sit down and talk with.”
Defeat in the Club World Cup against Corinthians saw an announcement that Benitez would leave Stamford Bridge at the end of the season.
Napoli 2013-15 — Higuain and Callejon
His final adventure before landing at Madrid was with Napoli, back in Serie A. He had a certain amount of peace in this job, although he did completely escape conflicts.
Callejon was dismissed from a training session. Benitez accused him of not complying with his demands and criticised his concentration. There was also a run in with Gonzalo Higuain, who was annoyed that he was always the player to be substituted.
As you can see, there are several conflicts between Benitez, his players and other members of the club. Now it looks like he may have a problem brewing with Cristiano Ronaldo. Let’s see how Florentino Perez manages the situation and if Benitez can make it to the end of the season.
