Former Newcastle United manager Rafa Benitez
Former Newcastle United manager Rafa Benitez
Two Carabao Cup finals in three seasons? A Champions League push? Talk of a new stadium? A lot has changed at Newcastle United since Rafa Benitez reluctantly walked away from a shell of a club.
"I was very close to staying," the former Newcastle boss revealed to ChronicleLive. "But, with the situation when I was leaving, Mike Ashley was not selling at this time and we could not wait. It was not a proper project at this time because there was not any intention to invest, to improve things, so we had to do it.
"The timing was a pity, but it was what it was. I couldn't wait because it was very clear he had no intention to invest and to improve so we couldn't be waiting and waiting."
The takeover was finally completed a couple of years later in 2021. By then, the landscape had changed, but Benitez is not bitter about that. On the contrary. Only an upcoming UEFA conference in Madrid has prevented Benitez from physically attending the Carabao Cup final on Sunday.
Benitez will instead be watching from home. Not as a former Newcastle manager or an ex-Liverpool boss, but as possibly the only neutral on Merseyside after being 'treated really well' by Geordies and Scousers. Although Benitez stressed it would be 'against my feelings' to pick a side, the 64-year-old described the final as 'massive' for Newcastle as Eddie Howe's team bid to end a crippling wait for silverware.
"We experienced some years of suffering without any chance to make real progress," he said. "Now they have had this possibility in the last few years and they are growing and challenging for trophies, which is amazing.
"It's been so many years. It's been a sleeping giant. It was a pity that they could not be at the level that the fans deserved, but now they are there so I'm really pleased for them, for sure.
"In modern football, when you have some money and you can invest, you can improve. You have to compete with clubs with a lot of money and if you can't get the best players, it's very difficult to have a chance to win a trophy.
"But Newcastle United have improved a lot in terms of ownership, investment and staff in the last few years so everyone is doing a good job and the fans are delighted. I think they deserve to win but I cannot say, 'They must do it!' because then the Liverpool fans will be like, 'Oh, Rafa!' So I'm happy to see both teams there."
Rafa Benitez with the Championship trophy in 2017
So can Newcastle end 70 years of hurt against a wounded Liverpool side? Well, anything can happen in a final, of course, as Benitez can testify.
Who could forget that Champions League final triumph when Benitez's Liverpool side were 3-0 down at half-time against a glittering AC Milan outfit packed with serial winners? You all know what happened next.
Newcastle won't want to find themselves with a mountain to climb at the break, though, as the Magpies did on their last trip to Wembley a couple of years ago, and it is far from a coincidence that Howe's team's best performances have come following a blistering start. That has not gone unnoticed by Benitez.
"Newcastle United can play with intensity from the first minute and if they are right at the beginning, they can get results," Benitez said. "They have shown during the season.
"When they start on the front foot and score goals, normally, they win. Liverpool are a difficult opponent, but it's a final. It won't be easy, but they will have chances."
Talking about Newcastle having chances in a showpiece under the arch was unimaginable not so long ago, of course, when even senior figures at the club openly admitted that the cups were not a priority in the Ashley era. Looking back, Benitez said that the 'challenge was to compete every day with some difficulties'.
Newcastle United fans make their feelings clear
Yet Benitez embraced that task - even after his initial interim spell ended in relegation in 2016 - having been moved by the warmth of Geordies, who repeatedly told the former Real Madrid boss that they wanted him to stay.
"The fans appreciated when we decided to stay in the Championship," he remembered. "That was a great experience for me.
"I managed in the second division in Spain when I was younger and after my time in Valencia, Liverpool and [Real] Madrid, to go to the Championship was a difficult decision, but you could feel the passion of the fans. You could feel that you have a city behind the team so that was the main reason why we said, 'OK. We can try.' We were really happy to win the Championship to get promoted and afterwards we were trying to do our best."
Tenth and 13th-placed finishes followed in 2018 and 2019 before Benitez decided to leave for China at the end of his contract after growing tired of the constraints at the club at the time. Rather than dwell on his exit, however, Benitez is 'really pleased' that signings like Martin Dubravka, Fabian Schar and Jacob Murphy are still so heavily involved and the Spaniard is genuinely happy to see Newcastle competing again.
"It's quite difficult to express, but when you have been in a place and you have been so well, so comfortable, when you see them doing well, you are really pleased," he added.
Hundreds of fans from all over the globe have been leaving personalised messages for Eddie Howe and his players ahead of the Carabao Cup final. You can send your own message of support here through our Cheer Map
Newcastle United Carabao Cup final news straight to your phone on WhatsApp
It's quick and easy to join. Just click this link and select 'Join Community' to get started.
Plus you can follow our new Newcastle United channel right here - just follow this link
Your informational will be hidden, you'll only ever receive messages from the Chronicle Live sports team, and you can leave any time you like. For more information, click here. You can read our Privacy Notice here.