Rafa Benitez has fired a warning to Liverpool ahead of their Champions League final meeting with Real Madrid at the end of the month.
The former Reds boss, who grew up supporting Madrid before he learnt to love Liverpool during a six year spell as manager on Merseyside, says the Spanish giants' experienced midfield and talented players on the bench could be "key" for the final's outcome.
He explained that the quality of players Carlo Ancelotti has at his disposal to call upon from the bench could be the difference, despite the fact Jurgen Klopp referred to his rotated squad on Wednesday night as having "Ferraris in the garage" .
When speaking about the differences of the two teams, Benitez told AS : "Real Madrid have relied on the experience of their midfield to take advantage of [Karim] Benzema’s quality and movement, alongside Vinicius [Junior], but Rodrygo or [Eduardo] Camavinga have also provided energy and balance for the team when they have played. It’s obvious Benzema, Vinicius and now Rodrygo will be the players to watch for Liverpool.
"The players make the difference on the pitch but the coach also plays an important role preparing, drawing up the game plan and choosing the most suited team. And then they can reinforce what has been done well or change things if something goes wrong during the game. Now being able to make more substitutions, the quality on the bench is key. The advantage for the coach especially coaching big teams is that he can make "good substitutions" because he has better players on the bench."
However, Liverpool's squad depth has only improved in recent years with the signings of Diogo Jota and Luis Diaz giving Klopp more rotation options. The Reds boss made nine changes for Wednesday's trip to Southampton, where his side kept their title hopes alive with a 2-1 win.
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Klopp said about the changes made: "I'm so happy with the performance, it's quite touching. It's like, wow! These boys! It's like having Ferraris in the garage. I never had a group like this. Because we win most of the time, there is not a lot of things you can really argue about [for team selection]."
Meanwhile, Benitez added: "Liverpool is a fairly complete team with quality and speed up front, now they are capable of keeping the ball for longer periods due to the superiority over their opposition in most of their games. But they are still dangerous in counter-attacks and set pieces, so they [Real Madrid] have to worry about a lot of things.
"[But] I suppose [we will see] something similar to what we have seen in the journey of the two teams. A Real Madrid that has reacted in key moments to take advantage of their players’ quality. And an aggressive Liverpool that will want to impose their quality and intensity.
