Rafa Benitez leaves Jamie Redknapp in stitches after Sky Sports fail

Rafa Benitez left Jamie Redknapp in stitches on Saturday night after the ex-Newcastle and Liverpool manager failed to recreate a famous Sky moment from his time as Reds manager. Benitez was in the Sky Sports studio as Newcastle hosted Liverpool in the Premier League.

Benitez was manager of Liverpool between 2004 and 2010 and led the Merseyside giants to Champions League success in 2005 after masterminding a stunning comeback against AC Milan in the final. But one famous moment during Benitez’s time in the northwest came when Liverpool hosted Everton in a Merseyside derby.

Sky Sports were in town to cover the match and, with Liverpool leading 2-0, the camera operator zoomed in on Benitez. The Spaniard happened to be signalling to his players with his right hand at the time. And as he moved his hand across the television screen, a caption followed in tandem with the manager’s name on it.

The hilarious moment had some fans insisting that Benitez was some sort of magician and the moment remains a famous one at Sky.

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Benitez, who won two La Liga titles with Valencia before moving to Anfield, went on to guide Liverpool to FA Cup success in 2006 before taking over from Jose Mourinho at Inter Milan following his Reds departure. And he led the Italian team to the Club World Cup in his first season at the San Siro Stadium.

Benitez returned to the Premier League with Chelsea in 2012 and helped the club win the Europa League title. He then won the Italian Cup with Napoli before embarking on an ill-fated six-month spell with Real Madrid during the first half of the 2015/16 campaign.

Benitez took charge of Newcastle in March 2016 and, although he couldn’t save them from relegation from the Premier League, he stayed at St James’ Park and guided the Magpies to Championship promotion the following season. After leaving Newcastle in 2019, he had an 18-month stint in charge of Chinese side Dalian Professional, before returning to England once again to oversee Everton in July 2021. But his time at Goodison Park was miserable and he was given his marching orders at the start of last year.