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Rafa Benítez hits Champions League century
JUAN CASTRO 10/23/2013
Rafa Benítez was the forerunner to many Spanish coaches who headed abroad when almost nobody travelled overseas. Tuesday was a special day for him. His Napoli side beat Marseille at the Velodrome (2-1) and ensured it will continue challenging for a place in the last 16, but he also coached his 100th Champions League match.
His stats are also quite impressive with 57 wins, 21 draws and 22 defeats. Along the way, his teams have scored a total of 175 goals and conceded 91. So we might say he’s a defensive coach. He coached 14 games with Valencia, 76 with Liverpool, 6 with Inter, 1 with Chelsea and has coached three so far at Napoli, although there are obviously more to come.
Rafa is the first Spanish coach to reach this milestone. Legendary coach Miguel Muñoz, who led Real Madrid 71 times in the old European Cup, follows him in second place. There are only six coaches ahead of Benítez in the European rankings: Ferguson (214), Wenger (177), Ancelotti (125), Mourinho (110), Lucescu (107) and Hitzfeld (101).
'Rafé', as he is nicknamed at Napoli, continues adding to his career, the highlights of which include the Champions League title with Liverpool and the Europa League with Chelsea amongst other international silverware.
Regarding the win in Marseille, the Madrid-born coach said that "it was an outstanding win for the entire squad. Even those players who did not play on the night contributed to preparing for this challenge as best they could."
JUAN CASTRO 10/23/2013
His stats are also quite impressive with 57 wins, 21 draws and 22 defeats. Along the way, his teams have scored a total of 175 goals and conceded 91. So we might say he’s a defensive coach. He coached 14 games with Valencia, 76 with Liverpool, 6 with Inter, 1 with Chelsea and has coached three so far at Napoli, although there are obviously more to come.
Rafa is the first Spanish coach to reach this milestone. Legendary coach Miguel Muñoz, who led Real Madrid 71 times in the old European Cup, follows him in second place. There are only six coaches ahead of Benítez in the European rankings: Ferguson (214), Wenger (177), Ancelotti (125), Mourinho (110), Lucescu (107) and Hitzfeld (101).
'Rafé', as he is nicknamed at Napoli, continues adding to his career, the highlights of which include the Champions League title with Liverpool and the Europa League with Chelsea amongst other international silverware.
Regarding the win in Marseille, the Madrid-born coach said that "it was an outstanding win for the entire squad. Even those players who did not play on the night contributed to preparing for this challenge as best they could."
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