Miracle at Istanbul outshines all of Benitez's failures

Rafael Benitez, whose reign as Liverpool manager ended today, will always be remembered on Merseyside for winning the Champions League in 2005 at the end of his first season at  Anfield.

Benitez boosted his status with Liverpool fans a year later when the Reds beat West Ham United in the FA Cup final.

Although they lost two finals in the following season to Chelsea in the League Cup and AC Milan in the Champions League, it seemed the fans had found a man who would bring them the coveted the English league title.

The problem for Benitez, though, was that the glory days were already over.

The arrival of the club's new owners, Americans Tom Hicks and George Gillett, in 2007, three months before the second Champions League final against Milan, began a long period of uncertainty between Benitez and the board, whom he publicly criticised for lack of support.

Their courting of Juergen Klinsmann, the former Germany coach, to replace Benitez in November 2007 did nothing for the inner harmony at Anfield, but Benitez saw off the threat and revealed some of his own inner steel.

"I cannot control everything," he said after the approach to Klinsmann became public. "I would rather concentrate my efforts on getting the best out of the players. I have been a manager for 21 years. That has helped me learn to cope with things like this. It has helped me realise there is no problem with my ability, just as there is no doubt about the quality of our squad."

Although he was able to spend a total of £249 million ($367 million) on new players and recoup £139 million in sales, his transfer budget got increasingly restricted as Liverpool became burdened with debts which now total around £350 million.

Although Liverpool finished fourth in the Premier League in 2008 and were runners-up to Manchester United in 2009, Benitez never seemed close to bringing Liverpool's most cherished prize back to Anfield for the first time since 1990.

He also began to appear under pressure, culminating in the famous "Rafa rant" in January 2009 when he read a list of "facts" about Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson at one of his weekly media briefings.

One of the real facts for Benitez to have to deal with was that although his side were able to turn the tide against Milan on that magical night in Istanbul in May 2005, when they scored three times in the second half to force a 3-3 draw before winning the Champions League title on penalties, they were unable to overturn Manchester United's domestic dominance.

Despite topping the table for a few weeks during the 2008-09 season and winning 4-1 at Old Trafford in March 2009, Liverpool could not prevent United winning a third successive Premier League crown to equal Liverpool's own record of 18 league titles.

Benitez, though, believed that by finishing runners-up, his side were equipped to mount a serious title challenge in the season to follow.

But the departure of the irreplaceable Xabi Alonso, who left Liverpool for Real Madrid a year ago, seriously unbalanced the side.

Liverpool made a poor start to the season, never recovered, and failed to make any impact in the Champions League or in either of the domestic trophies.

Their eventual seventh-place finish was their worst since 1999, left them out of the Champions League for next season, and leaves the Liverpool board facing something of a dilemma.

The club is currently up for sale and has an ageing squad that needs overhauling, although the new manager's budget for players is likely to be as restricted as Benitez's was.

Benitez's star burned brightly in his first few seasons at Anfield, and then flickered briefly again before fizzling out last season.

Although he ultimately failed to deliver the Premier League title, in the final reckoning his Champions League triumph will tower over whoever replaces him.