LIVERPOOL claimed their first trophy of the new season on Sunday, consigning the Bank of Russia team to their third successive defeat.

Manager Rafael Benitez barely exchanged a glance with his opposite number all afternoon but he must have found it hard not to disguise a smile as the Chelsea fans' seats emptied before the final whistle.

But of all Bentiez's great occasions nothing beats, for nerve-tingling excitement, that remarkable shoot-out success in the Champions' League final in Istanbul in May last year. It was a towering career moment not just for the players and the fans who had waited more than 20 years for just such a moment but also Rafa.

But what makes him tick?

Sports journalist and confidante Paco Lloret reveals all in his biography, which traces Rafa's progress from his modest playing years with Real Madrid to his national and international successes with Valencia and his sudden move to Merseyside.

Benitez is one very important reason why Liverpool have regained their position as one of Europe's great clubs. He may be ice cold in moments of success but that's a euphemism for the deep, near obsessive, dedication and organisation that gets his teams to the highest pinnacle.

Oddly enough, since Rafa joined the club in June 2004 his nerve-centre has not been Anfield but Melwood, the enclosed training facility, and it is here where he has totally changed many of the out-dated practices that Liverpool had been following, to their detriment.

Truly, Benitez is a worthy successor to Shankly, Paisley, Fagan et al and this is an Evertonian writing!