He’s crossed the line! Fuming Chelsea boss Benítez blasts ‘liar’ Materazzi

Rafael Benítez has accused Marco Materazzi of “crossing the line” with his recent comments about the Chelsea boss’ management style.

Materazzi played under Benítez at Inter in 2010 and was quoted as calling him “weak” in an interview by France Football this week.

“You are clever people and in Italy everybody knows him,” said a visibly riled Benítez at a news conference on Tuesday. “At Inter everybody knows him.

“It’s just to clarify that what he said is not true. It’s a lie, it’s very simply to see.”

Materazzi added: “At Inter’s training centre, there were photos on the wall of all the most successful past coaches. Benítez had the ones of José Mourinho taken down. With that gesture, he showed his character; that of a weak person.”

Benítez, whose reign at Inter lasted just six-and-a-half months, responded: “The other one about the pictures…I didn’t know about where this locker room was to take the pictures off. It’s a lie. Everybody knows that it’s a lie. But still he’s repeating these lies.

“When you talk with a liar, you have to say that he’s a liar.”

The Spaniard added: “I wanted to be professional and respect people because I was talking with members of his family and they were telling me, ‘you need to understand him’.

“So I tried to be nice, tried to be professional and as a person I wanted to respect him – but I think he’s crossing the line now.

“I will not talk too much about him because everybody knows him [in Italy].

“He cannot discredit me because everybody knows him. Forget about him, believe me.”

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Read more on: Chelsea, inter milan, marco materazzi, Premier League, Rafael Benítez.