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John Arne Riise was left in tears after Rafael Benitez denied him a fitting Liverpool farewell.

Having just played in the Champions League semi-final loss to Chelsea, Riise was only two matches shy of reaching 350 appearances for the Reds.

However, the match at Stamford Bridge turned out to be his swansong for Liverpool as Benitez bluntly told him he was planning to bring in Andrea Dossena as a replacement left-back that summer.



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With only two games left of the season, I thought it might be to discuss a new contract.

"He sat me down and with absolutely no warning at all, he told me it was best if we went our separate ways at the end of the season.

I'm thinking with 348 games for Liverpool across seven seasons, I deserved a bit of an explanation.

"I knew they were bringing in Andrea Dossena because he had told me, so I had a choice to stay and fight for my place or leave.

"However, we all know that, when a new player comes in, they can basically be as bad as they like for the first few months, and they're still going to play.

"At the age of 27 I couldn't risk sitting on the bench for five months until January.

Rafa Benitez and John Arne Riise.

We have a good relationship and I've seen him plenty of times since but he has never told me why."

Following his departure from Liverpool in 2008, Riise went on to play for an array of clubs including Roma, Fulham, and teams in Cyprus and India, before hanging up his boots for good in 2023.


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