Liverpool boss Rafa Benitez hints he feels vindicated over his attack on Manchester United counterpart Sir Alex Ferguson last season. In "Rafa's Rant", Benitez listed a number of things that irritated him about Ferguson, including his complaints about match officials.

Fast forward ten months and Ferguson appears to be on the retreat in his battle with referees, and the FA has handed the United manager an unprecedented touchline ban after his post-match complaints about Alan Wiley's fitness.

Does Benítez allow himself a wry smile of satisfaction?

"No," he told The Times. "I thought it was the best way to put things across and that people would see something that everybody knew and maybe no one could say. I said it. I was talking about facts.

"Now the situation is different, but you still see things that you could say . . ."

He stops, laughs and changes tack.

"It's better to leave it and focus on my team and try to improve our performance. That's the best way to help my team."