Rafa Benitez is embroiled in a war of words with Sam Allardyce…

Real Madrid boss Rafa Benitez is no stranger to managerial rivalries, and one man in particular is right up near the top of that list.

Speaking in his book, ‘Big Sam, The Autobiography’, the new Sunderland manager Sam Allardyce has claimed that Liverpool's famous 2005 Champions League Final comeback had “nowt to do with [Benitez]”. The Spaniard didn't take that comment lying down and, according to the Daily Mirror, he had this to say on Spanish radio station Al Primer Toque: “Allardyce is what happens when you get a book in England… his opinion has little value. “How many titles has Allardyce won? That tells you all.” The former Liverpool head coach also admitted that he tried to sign a young Gareth Bale from Southampton, while rejecting Jamie Carragher's claim that his old boss preferred Norwegian full-back John Arne Riise to the prodigious Welsh talent. “Carragher has made the mistake of saying I chose to stick with Riise instead of Bale. It wasn’t the case,” said Benitez. Good to see it's still just as easy to wind him up.