RAFAEL Benitez will be at Dublin’s Bord Gáis Energy Theatre for one night only for an intimate evening this September.

For this very special event the audience will gain an exclusive insight in to the mind of one of Europe’s most successful and celebrated football managers. Rafa will share memories from his early career at Real Madrid, his winning times at Valencia and his fateful beginnings at Liverpool Football Club. Discover what really happened at half time in Istanbul in 2005 and his subsequent years at LFC. Listen as he talks about his latest book: “Champions League Dreams” and explains how he took Liverpool to their historic fifth European championship.

“Rafa” has one of the most illustrious and successful careers in football management. Renowned for being a world-class strategist he was a product of the famed Real Madrid youth academy. His professional playing career was cut short by injury, enabling a move swiftly into management. He managed Real Madrid U19’s where he regularly steered them to victory and went on to become assistant first team coach under the Spanish national coach Vicente Del Bosque. After finding success at Extremadura and Tenerife, Rafa assumed the role of Head Coach at Valencia. In his first season, he guided the club to their first La Liga title in thirty-one years. In 2003, Valencia repeated their La Liga success and that same season lifted the UEFA Cup.

Wanting a new challenge and seeking success in the Premier League, Benitez accepted the role of manager at Liverpool FC where, in 2005, he led the club to a UEFA Champions League victory in one of football’s most memorable tournament finals; in doing so, Benitez became only the third manager in history (after Bob Paisley and José Mourinho) to win the UEFA Cup and UEFA Champions League in successive seasons. The following season Liverpool built on their champion’s league success by winning the FA Cup, the UEFA Super Cup and, the FA Community Shield. “Rafa” also reached second place in the race for the Premier league title with 86 points in 2009, a historical record for the club. “Rafa” left Liverpool in 2010 and took the role of Head Coach at Inter Milan. Benitez won his first trophy as manager of the club when the side defeated AS Roma 3-1 for the Italian Super Cup; later that year Inter won the FIFA Club World Cup. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity for all football fans to gain an insight in to the man who brought pride back to Liverpool.

This event is in support of the Montse Benitez Foundation, which was set up in 2011 by Rafa and his wife Montse. Montse was recently the recipient of the “Woman in Philanthropy Award” in the Merseyside Women Of The Year honours. The foundation supports various charities based in Liverpool.

You can buy tickets for the evening with Rafa here