Rafa Benitez says Arsene Wenger used to have one key weakness at Arsenal that he’d always exploit

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Arsene Wenger and Rafa Benitez shared many great battles during their time in the Premier League.

The two managers had differing styles, Wenger the ultimate philosopher of free-flowing, attacking football, Benitez the pragmatic, tactical student.

It led to some epic encounters between Arsenal and Liverpool in the Premier League, including a famous 4-4 draw at Anfield with the highlight being Andrei Arshavin scoring all four for the Gunners.

Benitez got the better of Wenger in a brilliant Champions League quarter final in 2008 and the Spanish boss has now revealed the weakness he exploited in his Arsenal teams.

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Rafa Benitez exploited Arsene Wenger’s Arsenal on the counter attack

Speaking to the ‘Shoot for Love’ YouTube account, Benitez revealed that he used to exploit Arsenal on the counter attack when facing a team managed by Wenger.

The Spaniard had spells at Liverpool, Chelsea and Newcastle playing against Wenger and revealed how the Gunners’ quick, incisive attacking football could actually be used against them.

Benitez stated: “Arsenal used to play nice quick passing football so it’s very difficult to get the ball to them, so your team is very strong, you take possession but if not you have to be organised defensively.

“I liked to defend in three quarters, not too deep but if your team is moving the ball very fast maybe you have to drop off and play deep.

“But in theory if you have to find a weakness of them it would be the counter attack. So when they give the ball away, you have to be quick quick in the counter attack because they will leave a space behind.”

Gareth Southgate recently praised Wenger for his man-management skills with his players and it was not often that opposition managers were able to out-smart the legendary Gunners boss.

Arsene Wenger beat Rafa Benitez more than any other manager

Incredibly, despite Benitez claiming that he knew Wenger’s biggest weakness, no other manager was able to get the upper hand over the Spaniard more than the former Arsenal manager.

Premier League greats such as Sir Alex Ferguson and Jose Mourinho could not manage more victories over Benitez with Wenger leading the way.

Benitez will point to the fact that he has the one thing on his CV that Wenger craved more than anything else during his managerial career – A Champions League trophy.

Wenger was within touching distance during the 2006 final when his Arsenal led Barcelona 1-0 for most of the match before a late double blow broke Gunners’ hearts.