War wounds and battle lines can’t faze Benitez

It was always going to come back to the flags. Around the time of the 2007 Champions League semi-final against Liverpool, as Chelsea attempted to whip up even more of an atmosphere by giving out little blue banners, Rafael Benitez had the following rather provocative comment to make.

“We don’t need to give away flags for our fans to wave — our supporters are always there with their hearts, and that is all we need. It’s the passion of the fans that helps to win matches — not flags.”