Real Madrid coach Bernd Schuster last night launched a stunning, unprovoked attack on Rafa Benitez and Liverpool.
He branded the style of the Premier League leaders both ‘unattractive’ and ‘ugly’.
The arrogant German savaged the Kop after confessing boss Benitez has transformed them into one of only two teams he believes can prevent the Spanish giants winning their 10th European Cup in Moscow on May 21.
Schuster rapped: “Liverpool rely on an unattractive style of football. They are an ugly team to play.
“Look how they really gave Barcelona a going-over last season, when they knocked them out of the Champions League. That’s what I mean.
“I want the Champions League because it’s a trophy I was so close to winning as a player with Barcelona under Terry Venables.
“We reached the final in 1986 and lost to Steaua Bucharest on penalties. Then I also lost in the semis when I was playing for Real Madrid.
“I would rate Liverpool, like AC Milan, as our major rivals for the Champions League this season. They are clubs which never tire of winning big trophies again and again.
“But my personal preference, if I could choose the best of all our European rivals and transplant them to Madrid, would be to take the Manchester United attack and graft it on to the Chelsea defence. That would be the perfect combination.”
Schuster’s comments about Benitez’s ‘ugly’ team can be taken as a backhanded compliment to someone he regards as a potential rival for the Madrid job.
