Rafael Benitez responds to Jose Mourinho's dig

Rafa Benitez has reopened his ongoing war of words with Jose Mourinho as he told reporters that the current Chelsea boss ‘talks too much’.

The managerial duo have been at loggerheads with each other since Mourinho’s first spell in charge of Chelsea and his relationship with then-Liverpool boss Benitez has always been a highly charged one.

Mourinho took another subtle did at the Spaniard in the week as he claimed that winning the Europa League could not be deemed a success by any big club, having been quizzed about Juventus’ hopes of landing the trophy this season.

Benitez had of course led Chelsea to glory in that competition last season, as his interim spell in charge at Stamford Bridge ended with a 2-1 victory over Benfica to land consecutive European trophies for the West London club and he fired a response back at the provocative Portuguese manager that was dismissive of his opinions.

According to Goal, Benitez told reporters, “He talks too much. Whereas I like to let the facts do the talking.

“At Liverpool I knocked his Chelsea team out of the Champions League when we had half the money.”

Chelsea have made 303 interceptions in the Premier League this season. Only Sunderland (289) have performed fewer.