Rafael Benítez

Rafael Benítez Maudes (born 16 April 1960) is a Spanish professional football manager and former player. He was most recently the manager of La Liga club Celta Vigo.

Benítez joined Real Madrid's coaching staff at the age of 26, going on to work as the under-19 and reserve team coach, and assistant manager for the senior team. He moved away from Real Madrid in 1995, but management spells at Real Valladolid and Osasuna were short-lived and unsuccessful. He guided Segunda División club Extremadura back to La Liga in his first season in the 1997–98 season, but the team was relegated the following season. He left the club, and coached Tenerife in 2000, winning promotion in his only season.

Benítez was appointed coach of Valencia and won La Liga in the 2001–02 season. In 2004, another La Liga league title and a UEFA Cup victory were added, building on the foundation laid by Héctor Cúper who had taken Valencia to two consecutive Champions League finals: in 2000 against Real Madrid, and in 2001 against Bayern Munich. After leaving Valencia, Benitez moved to English club Liverpool of the Premier League, guiding the club to victory in the UEFA Champions League in 2005. For the second consecutive season, he was named UEFA Manager of the Year. He also won the FA Cup in 2006 and reached the 2007 Champions League final, but was unable to win the Premier League, with Liverpool's best league performance under Benítez a second-place finish in 2008–09.

After leaving Liverpool in June 2010, Benítez was appointed manager of treble-winning side Inter Milan. Despite attaining silverware with the Supercoppa Italiana and Club World Cup, his reign at the club was short, and he was dismissed midway through the 2010–11 season. In November 2012, he was appointed interim manager of Chelsea for the remainder of the season, and he went on to win the 2013 Europa League. He returned to Italy in 2013 to coach Napoli, where he won the Coppa Italia and Supercoppa Italiana. He then left Napoli and became coach of Real Madrid in June 2015 on an initial three-year contract. It was another short-lived appointment, and on 4 January 2016, he was dismissed following a 2–2 draw against his former club, Valencia.

Benítez was appointed manager of Newcastle United in March 2016, in an attempt to save the club from relegation. He was unable to avoid relegation, but earned promotion back to the Premier League the following year, winning the Championship. He left the club in June 2019, and the following month was appointed manager of Chinese Super League club Dalian Professional. He left the club by mutual consent in January 2021, before taking over as manager at Everton in June. He was dismissed in January 2022, after a run where Everton lost nine out of thirteen games.

Early career

Benítez played as a midfielder for both Real Madrid Aficionados in the Tercera División and Real Madrid Castilla in the Segunda División. He also enrolled as a student at INEF, the sports faculty at the Universidad Politécnica de Madrid; in 1982, he obtained a degree in physical education.

In 1979, Benítez was selected to play for the Spain Youth U-19s at the World Student Games in Mexico City, and he scored a penalty in the opening game, a 10–0 win against Cuba. In the next game, a 0–0 draw against Canada, he was injured in a hard tackle. The injury saw him sidelined for a year, and hampered his chances of becoming a major player. In 1981, Benítez joined Tercera División side Parla. Initially, he joined Parla on loan, but eventually signed for them permanently and helped them gain promotion to Segunda División B. He also played a further three games for the Spain Universities XI. In 1985, he signed for Segunda División B club Linares and under Enrique Mateos, he served as a player/coach. Further injury problems saw him miss almost the entire 1985–86 season, and he subsequently retired as a player.''Rafa Benítez'': Paco Lloret (2005)

Managerial career

Real Madrid youth coach

In 1986, at the age of 26, Benítez returned to Real Madrid to join the club's coaching staff. At the start of the 1986–87 season, he was appointed coach of Real Madrid Castilla. With this team, he won two league titles in 1987 and 1989. He won a third league title with the Real Madrid youth in 1990. Halfway through the 1990–91 season, he succeeded José Antonio Camacho as the coach of Real Madrid's under-19 team. He won the Spain Under 19s Cup in 1991 and 1993, defeating Barcelona in both finals. In 1993, the team completed a double when they also won the national under-19 league. While at Real, Benítez also gained his coaching certificate in 1989 - and in the summer of 1990, taught at a football camp at the University of California in Davis, California.

During the 1992–93 season, Benítez also worked as an assistant coach to Mariano García Remón at Real Madrid B. After his success with the U19s, Benítez then succeeded García Remón at the start of the 1993–94 season. Real Madrid B were then playing in the Segunda División, and on 4 September 1993, he made his debut as a Segunda División manager with a 3–1 over Hércules. In March 1994, he became an assistant to Vicente del Bosque with the senior Real Madrid team, before returning to coach Real Madrid B for the 1994–95 season.

Early coaching

The first attempts by Benítez at senior management away from the Real Madrid fold were less than successful. He was appointed manager of Real Valladolid for the 1995–96 season, but was dismissed after only two wins in 23 games, with the club bottom of La Liga. During the 1996–97 season, Benítez took charge at Osasuna in the Segunda División, but after only nine games and one win, he was dismissed. He did, however, meet the fitness instructor Pako Ayestarán at the club, and went on to form a partnership with him at several clubs for the next decade. In 1997, he joined another Segunda División side, Extremadura, and this time led them to promotion, finishing second in the table behind Alavés, after winning 23 out of 42 games. Extremadura only survived one season in La Liga, however, and were relegated in 1999, after finishing 17th and losing a play-off to Rayo Vallecano.

Benítez subsequently resigned at Extremadura, and took a year off from football to study in England and Italy. He also worked as a commentator/analyst for Eurosport, ''Marca'', ''El Mundo'' and local Madrid TV. In 2000, he was appointed manager of Tenerife of the Segunda División, and with a team that included Mista, Curro Torres and Luis García, he gained promotion to La Liga by finishing third in the league behind Sevilla and Real Betis.

Valencia

2001–04: Twice Spanish champions and UEFA Cup winners

In 2001, Benítez was appointed coach of Valencia, replacing Argentine Héctor Cúper. Cúper had led the club to two consecutive UEFA Champions League finals (both of which they lost), and departed to join Italian side Inter Milan. Valencia had previously approached Javier Irureta, Mané and Luis Aragonés, and had been turned down by all three. However, club director Javier Subirats recognised the potential of Benítez, and campaigned for his appointment. According to Santiago Cañizares, the squad was initially surprised, but they were immediately won over by his modesty as he presented himself as quoted: "You come from the Champions League final and I come from Segunda División, but humbly I think I have tools to make you improve". Shortly after his signing was announced in June 2001, Valencia president Pedro Cortes claimed that, "we believe he's the ideal coach. He's a professional who is highly qualified to take charge of the sort of team we want — young, aggressive and with a winning attitude." Benitez signed a two-year deal, with an annual salary of €450,000. It was well below the €1.2 million Cúper had earnt the previous season.

Valencia fans also were soon won over by Benítez, after he introduced a more attacking style of play than his predecessor. He also brought in both Mista from his former club and Francisco Rufete from Málaga, with Mista going on to become top goalscorer for Valencia, with 19 goals in the 2003–04 season. In 2002, these tactics saw Benítez lead Valencia to their first La Liga title in 31 years, winning it by a seven-point margin over second-placed Deportivo La Coruña.

However, the following season was a disappointing one; the club failed to follow up on their title success, finishing 18 points behind champions Real Madrid, and missed out on the top four by a single point. The season also saw Benítez make his debut in the Champions League, where his side reached the quarter-finals, losing to Inter Milan.

In the 2003–04 season, Valencia won La Liga with three games to spare, and beat Marseille 2–0 in the UEFA Cup final. Despite this success, Benítez fell out with Jesús García Pitarch, the club's director of football, over control of new signings, and the club's failure to reinforce the squad with the players he wanted. He said: "I was hoping for a sofa defenderand they've brought me a lamp abián Canobbio" in reference to the positions he wanted to be strengthened. These differences of opinion saw Benítez resign as Valencia coach on 1 June 2004.

Liverpool

On 16 June 2004, Benítez was appointed manager of Liverpool, replacing Gérard Houllier, becoming the first Spaniard to manage in the Premier League. On his arrival he stated: "It is like a dream to be here. I am very, very proud to be joining one of the most important clubs in the world in one of the best leagues in the world - and I want to win."

2004–06: Early successes

One of Benítez's first tasks at Liverpool was to convince club captain Steven Gerrard