Inter Milan coach Rafa Benitez says Liverpool will always be special to him.

He strongly denied losing the dressing room, though, and revealed that he made a point of sending birthday wishes to Steven Gerrard when the Liverpool skipper was 30 at the end of last month.

"Before I left, I spoke with 95 per cent of the Liverpool players, and I contacted Steven Gerrard on his birthday," he said.

"The majority said, 'Thank you for everything'. I spoke with Gerrard, and he was fine. In fact, he wished me well. I left on a positive note and the relationship with the players was good.

"It was hard for me to leave Liverpool. It was really difficult and I was sad to go. It was not easy, because the fans on the Kop were always fantastic to me. All the fans were like that. It was a sad day when I left, but I had to do it.

"My youngest daughter grew up in Liverpool. I was there for six years and she is only seven, so we will be looking at English schools. Both the girls were very attached to Liverpool - neither of them supports Everton."