{"id":729297,"date":"2026-01-29T20:18:47","date_gmt":"2026-01-29T20:18:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/729297\/"},"modified":"2026-01-29T20:18:47","modified_gmt":"2026-01-29T20:18:47","slug":"rafa-benitez-says-he-signed-a-very-special-player-at-liverpool-for-just-5m","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/729297\/","title":{"rendered":"Rafa Benitez says he signed a \u2018very special\u2019 player at Liverpool for just \u00a35m"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>Rafa Benitez\u2019s time at Liverpool will be remembered for that 2005 run, but he experienced heartbreak in Europe too. <\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The Spaniard was at the helm at <a href=\"https:\/\/www.rousingthekop.com\/club\/anfield-stadium-information\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Anfield<\/a> for six seasons, the highlight of which was obviously that <a href=\"https:\/\/www.rousingthekop.com\/2019\/11\/12\/the-liverpool-heroes-of-the-2005-istanbul-final-where-are-they-now\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Champions League final in Istanbul<\/a>, which wrote him into the Liverpool history books. <\/p>\n<p>There were seasons, though, where he came close to more silverware on the continent, like losing the Europa League semi-final to Atletico Madrid in 2010. <\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"40\" height=\"40\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/mail.png\" alt=\"mail icon\"\/>Join our newsletter for news &amp; smart analysis.          <\/p>\n<p> How far will Liverpool go in this year\u2019s Champions League? <\/p>\n<p>    <img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" loading=\"lazy\"  src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/GettyImages-1153098773-1024x683.jpg\" alt=\"Tottenham Hotspur v Liverpool - UEFA Champions League Final\" class=\"wp-image-123594\" \/>Photo by Harold Cunningham \u2013 UEFA\/UEFA via Getty Images<\/p>\n<ul class=\"inline-links multi\">\n<li>2017\/18 \u2013 Runners-up<\/li>\n<li>2018\/19 \u2013 Winners<\/li>\n<li>2019\/20 \u2013 Last-16<\/li>\n<li>2020\/21 \u2013 Quarter-final<\/li>\n<li>2021\/22 \u2013 Runners-up<\/li>\n<li>2022\/23 \u2013 Last-16<\/li>\n<li>2024\/25 \u2013 Last-16<\/li>\n<li>2025\/26 \u2013 ?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p> \ud83d\udc47 Join the debate; share your insight. Use the comment button on the bottom left to have your say <\/p>\n<p>When recalling that match, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.rousingthekop.com\/tag\/rafa-benitez\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Benitez<\/a> singled out the goalscorer who almost got Liverpool through. <\/p>\n<p>Rafa Benitez thought highly of Yossi Benayoun <\/p>\n<p>He was never a superstar at <a href=\"https:\/\/www.rousingthekop.com\/club\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Liverpool<\/a>, but Benitez was a fan of Yossi Benayoun. <\/p>\n<p>Arriving at Anfield under controversial circumstances after breaking a verbal agreement with West Ham, Benayoun was never much more than a squad player but a very good one. <\/p>\n<p>He scored 29 goals in 134 appearances for the Reds. <\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"777\" loading=\"lazy\"  src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/GettyImages-90622721-1024x777.jpg\" alt=\"Yossi Benayoun of Liverpool celebrates after scoring the first goal during the Barclays Premier League match between Liverpool and Burnley at Anfield\" class=\"wp-image-267316\" \/>Photo by John Powell\/Liverpool FC via Getty Images<\/p>\n<p>Speaking to UEFA about that fateful semi-final, Benitez as shown a clip of Benayoun scoring a goal. <\/p>\n<p>He said: \u201cTo be honest, Yossi was a very special player because he was very good coming off the bench.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He did score some vital goals for Liverpool, none at higher stakes than the one against Atletico. Unfortunately, Diego Forlan erased his impact and sent the Spanish side through to the final. <\/p>\n<p>Liverpool\u2019s loss to Atletico Madrid still frustrates Rafa Benitez <\/p>\n<p>That semi-final was really the decider of the 2012 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.rousingthekop.com\/tag\/europa-league\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Europa League<\/a>. <\/p>\n<p>The winner would face Athletic Club in the final \u2014 the Madrid outfit won 3-0. <\/p>\n<p>Analysing what went wrong in the decisive moment, Benitez said: \u201cWe made a mistake in that game, and hey took advantage of a throw-in that was a major mistake on our part.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt feels like it slipped through our fingers because it was there for us.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>It did indeed slip through their fingers. Winning that game could have seen Benitez go on to cement his legacy with a second European trophy. <\/p>\n<p>Alas, it wasn\u2019t to be. <\/p>\n<p>  Join Our Newsletter <\/p>\n<p>Receive a digest of our best Liverpool content each week direct to your mailbox<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Rafa Benitez\u2019s time at Liverpool will be remembered for that 2005 run, but he experienced heartbreak in Europe&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":729298,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8815],"tags":[748,393,4884,179,160555,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-729297","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-liverpool","8":"tag-britain","9":"tag-england","10":"tag-great-britain","11":"tag-liverpool","12":"tag-rafa-benitez","13":"tag-uk","14":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115980243150307986","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/729297","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=729297"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/729297\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/729298"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=729297"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=729297"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=729297"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}