“THE PLAYER WHO RACIALLY ABUSED ME WAS BRAINLESS AND AN A**HOLE – I WASN ’ T HAPPY WITH HIM AT ALL”

The midfielder linked up with Rafael Benitez for a second time while at Liverpool – but was the victim of a vile insult

Interview Lorenzo Bettoni

After progressing through the youth ranks at Auxerre, you made your senior debut at Valencia under Rafael Benitez. What was he like as a boss?

It was a huge honour to play under him. He’s one of the greatest managers I’ve ever met. He gave me the opportunity to play in La Liga, and I can only thank him for what he did for me. I was still very young at that time. I was supposed to play for Valencia’s second team and train with the senior squad, but after the first session, Rafa asked me to stay with the senior team permanently.

That was in 2003-04 – what a campaign it turned out to be...

Absolutely, as we won La Liga and the UEFA Cup. We had two secrets – the stability of the club and the quality of our players. Incredible. It was amazing to play Marseille in the UEFA Cup final. I’m from Paris, so Marseille are one of my fiercest rivals. For me, that first season at Valencia was absolutely stunning.