A typically Roy Keane remark forced the hand of Rafa Benitez on this week's instalment of The Overlap.
Ex-Liverpool manager Benitez was the special guest on this week's episode of 'Stick to Football' in association with Sky Bet.
The Spaniard sat down with Roy Keane, Gary Neville, Jamie Carragher, Ian Wright, and Jill Scott for a fascinating chat which took in tactical breakdowns of the modern game, as well as a look back on the highs and lows of his managerial career.
Two of the men at the table came up against Benitez during his time as a Premier League manager, with Keane and Neville a key part of the Manchester United team of the mid-2000s.
Though Benitez was pipped to three Premier League titles by the United side captained by Neville in the late 00s, the Liverpool coach did manage to take a memorable Champions League triumph in 2005.
That 2005 final was won in the most dramatic of circumstances, with Liverpool overturning a 3-0 deficit at half-time to defeat one of the greatest teams of all time in the form of Carlo Ancelotti's AC Milan.
Over the years, Benitez has taken many plaudits for his half-time introduction of Didi Hamann. Combined with the inspired performance of captain Steven Gerrard, it is widely seen as the moment the momentum swung in Liverpool's favour.
However, as the Overlap crew reflected on that astonishing 2005 Champions League final, Roy Keane eventually forced an admission from Benitez that even he had not seen a road to victory at half-time in Istanbul.
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Roy Keane was fascinated by Rafa Benitez's approach to Istanbul final
One of the members of the 'Stick to Football' team, Jamie Carragher, was on the pitch for Liverpool in 2005 and remembered on this week's episode that manager Rafa Benitez had made a bold call in changing his midfield setup for the final.
Evidently, something was quite wrong with that first-half setup, and Benitez moved quick to change things up at half-time.
Much of the work was motivational however, and Benitez admitted to Roy Keane this week that half of the job was convincing himself that Liverpool could still win the final.
Roy Keane: When you're an experienced manager, 3-0 down at half-time for one of the big trophies, are you also sitting there thinking, 'Fuck, this could be 4-0, 5-0, 6-0.'
Rafa Benitez: You are worried about that.
Keane: Obviously, the next goal...you don't want to be embarrassed to lose a final 6-0 or 5-0.
Benitez: It happened to me at Extremadura, we were 3-0 down and then scored a goal, I thought, 'What do we do now? The other team is much better than us, if we go high, we leave a space, then it will be 5-0, 6-0.' For me, it was clear [in Istanbul], we had to score one goal. I said, 'Put the head up, we have nothing to lose, we have been working so hard to get here, we have nothing to lose. If we score one goal, we come back.' The change of tactics changed the dynamics of the game.
Keane: But, as an experienced manager, were you sitting there thinking, 'This could be five or six.'
Benitez: Yeah, you are worried about that but you have to convince them.
Keane: The players, right....
Benitez: I am quite calm, quite analytic, trying always to win and find a solution. I was thinking, 'I have to pass the belief to them.'
Keane: But did you have the belief? Truthfully, when you're 3-0 down to a brilliant team.
Benitez: No
Keane: No...you're just faking it a little bit?
Benitez: But it's not that I was thinking, 'Oh no' - I have to do my job now, that's it. What happens, we will see.
Whatever was said in the dressing room at the Ataturk Stadium that night 19 years ago, it would lead to Liverpool enjoying one of the greatest nights in the club's illustrious history.
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