There are several of Rafael Benitez’s excellent Liverpool team of the late 2000’s who have followed their former boss into the world of coaching.
Benitez was a notoriously meticulous tactician, masterminding what is perhaps the most famous win in Reds history: the miracle of Istanbul.
From there, the Spaniard built a Liverpool squad who would often challenge for the Premier League title as well as the Champions League.
The best of those teams was the 2008/09 edition. Xabi Alonso has praised the spine of that Liverpool team as being the greatest he ever played in.
Alonso has since gone on to become a successful manager himself. As, to admittedly varying degrees, have Steven Gerrard, Dirk Kuyt, Fernando Torres, Sami Hyypia, Daniel Agger, Javier Mascherano and Albert Riera.
He was certainly not the most eye-catching member of that Liverpool group, but Riera has quietly been announcing himself as someone worth keeping a watch over.
Photo by Marcio Machado/Eurasia Sport Images/Getty Images
Photo by Marcio Machado/Eurasia Sport Images/Getty Images
Albert Riera makes history with NK Celje
Riera has been trying his hand at coaching away from the spotlight of the top five European leagues.
Nevertheless, since taking charge of Slovenian side Olimpija Ljubljana in 2022, the Spaniard has proven himself to be an adept leader.
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Riera won the league and cup double in his first season with Olimpija, but left having not been offered a new contract.
From there, the 42-year-old joined Bordeaux, but the French side’s much publicised financial struggles meant that was always going to be difficult.
After leaving Bordeaux in 2024, he joined another Slovenian team – NK Celje last July. After losing out in the early rounds of Champions League qualifying to Celtic, Celje were entered into the Europa Conference League.
READ MORE: He left teammates laughing at how bad he was in training but ended up winning the Champions League with Liverpool
Having snuck through in 21st position in the table, Celje were drawn against Swiss side Lugano in the last-16. And after winning 1-0 in Slovenia, Riera’s team were involved in a hectic 5-4 loss during Thursday’s night’s away leg.
With the scores tied after 120 minutes, the game went to penalties, with Celje emerging as 3-1 winners. Riera and his team now face a tough trip to Fiorentina in the quarter-finals. But after becoming the first Slovenian team to make it to the last eight in a European competition, they will not care one bit.
What did Riera do for Liverpool?
It’s always nice to see former Liverpool players do well once they leave Anfield. Providing they have left on good terms, of course.
From Riera’s point of view, those were slightly muddy waters. Although he was a regular in the 08/09 team which came so close to winning the Premier League, he fell out with Benitez in the following season and left along with his countryman that summer.
“He has never sorted out a situation with a player by talking with him. His dialogue with the players is practically nil,” he said in an interview with Marca in 2010.
“When the coach says nothing to you and you are well, with no physical problems and training well, you cannot help but think it must be something personal.”
During a 2022 interview with The Athletic, Riera claimed that he’d since buried the hatchet with Benitez and admitted that he had loved his two years with the Reds.