Rafa Benitez Aims Subtle Dig At Jurgen Klopp Regarding German’s Success at Liverpool

• Benitez coached Liverpool from 2004 to 2010 and won the Champions League in dramatic fashion in 2005
• The Spaniard compared his success with that of current boss Jurgen Klopp’s and believes he had it harder than his German counterpart
• According to Benitez, he did not have as heavy a transfer budget as Klopp has enjoyed since taking charge of Liverpool in 2015

Rafa Benitez has aimed a subtle dig at Jurgen Klopp regarding his Liverpool expenditure, with the Spaniard saying his Liverpool side cannot be compared to Klopp’s.

Liverpool is currently enjoying a purple patch in terms of overall success, and loads of credit has been heaped on Klopp, who has transformed the club since taking charge in 2015.

Since arriving at Anfield, Klopp has spent £225m on transfers and currently boasts one of the most expensive squads in the world at the moment based on his players’ current value in the market.

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Benitez, who was in charge of Liverpool from 2004 to 2010 tried to contrast his time at Anfield with Klopp’s era, saying he had it harder since he did not necessarily have ‘world class players’.

According to Benitez, with a mere £20million spending budget, he managed to acquire players like Luis Garcia, Xabi Alonso, Jamie Carragher and Fernando Torres and turn them into the best versions.

"If you analyse my Liverpool when I arrived in 2004, who were the best players? [Steven] Gerrard who was a young kid and played in different positions. There wasn’t much else in terms of world-class players. Benitez told AS.

"Now they tell you about Xabi Alonso, but then he was on loan at Eibar. Luis Garcia was a player that Barcelona was prepared to let go. Among the best is Fernando Torres who scored 15 or 20 goals in Spain when he reached 33.

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"We made [Javier] Mascherano grow, who was on the bench at West Ham. Lucas Leiva who later spent 10 years at the club. [Daniel] Agger who cost £6million."

Benitez admitted that the current Liverpool side was a great team, but Klopp had the luxury of “having players worth £40m who sit on the bench”.

As Liverpool boss, Benitez’s most memorable slice of success was in the 2005 Champions League final, when his side came from three goals down to claw a 3-3 draw against a star-studded AC Milan, only to go on to beat the Italian giants to win the European title.

Klopp at Liverpool

Klopp has also experienced huge success at the Merseyside club as he delivered them from mid table to genuine title contenders in recent years.

At the moment , Liverpool is on the hunt for an unlikely quadruple, as they have already secured the domestic double of the Carabao Cup and FA Cup.

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They are one point behind Manchester City going into the final round of matches, while in the Champions League, they will face Real Madrid in the final on May 28.