Former Liverpool defender Stephen Warnock claims Rafa Benitez lacked the “bottle” to call him and tell him that he wouldn’t be in the 2005 Champions League final squad.
Warnock was initially named in the Liverpool squad that eventually went on to beat AC Milan on penalties despite being 3-0 down at half-time, but was later replaced in the squad by Josemi.
That left a “very sour taste” in Warnock’s mouth and he admits he couldn’t celebrate the team’s victory despite him being a lifelong fan.
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“When I hear it described as being one of Liverpool’s greatest ever nights, it leaves a very sour taste,” Warnock told BBC Sport. “It still hurts now, actually – the way it was handled was absolutely shocking.
“I was in the original squad when the team sheet up was put up at the training ground a few days before the game, and I was absolutely ecstatic. Then a couple of hours later, I got a call from Rafa Benitez’s assistant, Pako Ayesteran, saying there had been a mistake. Josemi was in instead.
“Even that was poor – the fact that Rafa did not have the bottle to ring me himself. He did speak to me briefly on the pitch after the game, but I was not in the mood at all, I was still seething.
“I had been the same during the game. Don’t get me wrong, it was never to the point where I wanted them to lose, because Liverpool were my club and they were my team-mates out there, but it hurts when you are not involved and I was sitting there in the stands thinking about it the whole time. You almost switch off from what is happening in the game.
“If you look at the celebrations afterwards, a lot of people are on all the different photos but I am nowhere to be seen. I couldn’t bring myself to stand there, it just did not feel right. You feel like you have been let down.”
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