Rafa Benítez

Born in Madrid, 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.

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, Davis. 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

Benítez was 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…

Benítez developed a reputation in English football as a hard man to please, with former Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard admitting he longed for a "well done" from Benítez after good performances. Benítez's ruthlessness can also be seen in the way he disposed of all but Gerrard and Jamie Carragher from his Champions League winning squad within four seasons, with penalty shoot-out hero Jerzy Dudek made back-up goalkeeper the very season after the European triumph.

Benítez's preferred formation is a 4–2–3–1 which he adopted during his time at Valencia and Liverpool. He was highly regarded for his tactical acumen particularly in European ties, setting his team up to exploit opposition weaknesses. His calm demeanour and tactical changes at half time of the 2005 UEFA Champions League final were said to give players belief they could battle back from 3–0 down, although he had to correct his plans when it was pointed out to him his new formation would require 12 players on the pitch. Benítez often plays key players in unorthodox positions to suit a formation – notably converting both Steven Gerrard (in the 2005–06 season) and Dirk Kuyt into right-wingers. As a right winger/midfielder, Steven Gerrard had the most productive seasons trophy-wise, claiming a Champions League title, and an FA Cup.

Benítez is a firm believer in squad rotation and zonal marking. Despite heavy criticism from the English press Benítez persisted with the reward of a Champions League and FA Cup triumph in…

Benítez's father, Francisco, worked as a hotelier. His mother is Rosario Maudes. Rosario is a big football fan and supported Real Madrid, while his father supported Atlético Madrid. Francisco died in December 2005 while Benítez was in Japan for the FIFA Club World Championship. Rafael Benítez married Maria Montserrat in 1998. They have two daughters: one who was born in Madrid in 1999 and one who was born in Valencia in 2002. Benítez is fluent in Spanish, English, French and Italian.