Liverpool legend Robbie Fowler has recalled leaving Anfield.

In his column for the Mirror, Fowler wrote: "It was 13 years ago that we played AC Milan for a second time in a ­Champions League Final – and that was to be my last Liverpool game.

"I knew the score. I wasn't going to have my contract renewed, though I did wonder if they might offer me a coaching role. Well, let's get this straight – I more than wondered, I bloody well hoped, madly!

"So when we travelled to Athens for the Final, I didn't expect too much…but it was only natural to dream a little of lifting the trophy in my last game.

"In hindsight, it was never going to happen. There's a football truism that you can tell whether you're in the team or not by who you are rooming with.

"I was really ­emotional when I knew I wasn't in. On the way to the stadium, I had a tear in my eye. But it was Rafa ­Benitez's prerogative.

"He was paid to make tough decisions.

"I will say this though, and without wishing any lack of respect to any player, but I felt there was a case to be made for giving me that place on the bench.

"Rafa picked someone who'd hardly made an impact at Anfield at all. And that's being kind. And he was leaving too."