A familiar figure from Liverpool\u2019s recent past is back in management \u2014 this time in Greece.<\/p>\n
Former Reds boss Rafa Benitez has officially been named the new head coach of Panathinaikos, as confirmed by The Athletic.<\/p>\n
The Spaniard, who famously led Liverpool to Champions League glory in Istanbul in 2005, returns to the sidelines just seven months after his last managerial stint ended in disappointment.<\/p>\n
Benitez replaces Rui Vitoria, who was sacked in September, with Panathinaikos currently seventh in the Greek Super League and struggling for form in Europe. The Athens club have collected nine points from six league games and three from three in the Europa League so far.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s another chapter in a remarkable career that\u2019s seen Benitez manage the likes of Real Madrid, Napoli, and Inter Milan, as well as deliver the Champions League and FA Cup during his time at Anfield.<\/p>\n
His previous job at Celta Vigo ended poorly, with his dismissal coming after a 4\u20130 loss to Real Madrid left the team hovering above the relegation zone.<\/p>\n
Despite his achievements, Benitez\u2019s Liverpool legacy remains mixed. On The Football Historian Podcast, former players Lee Peltier and David Raven described him as \u201cstandoffish\u201d and \u201ccold,\u201d noting that a language barrier may have contributed to his distant demeanor. Peltier recalled that Benitez rarely engaged with players, while Raven remembered being bluntly told to \u201cjust sign it and shut up\u201d during contract talks.<\/p>\n
Such anecdotes reflect a manager celebrated for his tactical brilliance but not always his personal warmth \u2014 a pattern seen throughout his European career.<\/p>\n
Still, there\u2019s no questioning his pedigree. Benitez has worked with some of Europe\u2019s biggest clubs and now faces the task of reviving Panathinaikos to their past prominence.<\/p>\n
Liverpool fans will forever link him to that magical night in Istanbul, but his journey since leaving Anfield has been anything but straightforward \u2014 even including a controversial spell at Everton.<\/p>\n
If Benitez can reproduce the success of his Liverpool days, Athens may soon witness another memorable revival under one of football\u2019s most seasoned managers.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A familiar figure from Liverpool\u2019s recent past is back in management \u2014 this time in Greece. Former Reds boss Rafa Benitez has officially been named the new head coach of Panathinaikos, as confirmed by The Athletic. The Spaniard, who famously led Liverpool to Champions League glory in Istanbul in 2005, returns to the sidelines just …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":18,"featured_media":52864,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-52863","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/eplbanter.com.ng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/EOTK-FeaturedHero-Image-Templates-6-4.jpg.webp","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/eplbanter.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52863","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/eplbanter.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/eplbanter.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eplbanter.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/18"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eplbanter.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=52863"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/eplbanter.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52863\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":52866,"href":"https:\/\/eplbanter.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52863\/revisions\/52866"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eplbanter.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/52864"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/eplbanter.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=52863"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eplbanter.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=52863"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eplbanter.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=52863"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}