Whose Hands Will the Honors Fall Into?

"I was delighted with our performance today because we fully played to our level."

At the post-match press conference, Benitez became the center of attention for the media.

Before the match, Ferguson had provoked him by belittling Xabi Alonso, forcing Benitez to respond. Now that Liverpool had come from behind to beat Manchester United 3–1 at home, Benitez obviously had no reason to let Ferguson off the hook.

That simply wasn't Benitez's style.

"We fell behind a very good team for a time, but when we were behind, we fully displayed our character and fought extremely hard. That was a very positive factor and will greatly help us throughout the season."

"To be honest, I was very disappointed that we conceded so early because I wanted us to put pressure on the opposition from the start. But sometimes matches just turn out that way, and there are many uncontrollable factors. Fortunately, after conceding early, the entire team performed extremely well, allowing us to quickly turn the situation around."

Benitez also singled out several Liverpool players for praise. The first he mentioned was Xabi Alonso. He felt that although the Spanish midfielder had made some mistakes, his overall performance had been excellent and he had played very well.

There was also new signing Gareth Barry. Benitez had clearly taken the competition between Xabi Alonso and Gareth Barry into consideration, so he also believed that the English midfielder had worked extremely hard and performed at his true level.

"Clearly, he has played better with every match. I believe he can play an increasingly important role in the team."

Benitez believed Yang Yang, who had scored a hat-trick, had been the key to Liverpool defeating Manchester United in this match.

"Physically, he still isn't fully ready, but we need his abilities. Several of