Liverpool legend Jamie Carragher and Manchester United icon Gary Neville have their say on Rafa Benitez’s ‘facts’ rant at Sir Alex Ferguson in January 2009

JAMIE CARRAGHER and Gary Neville have had their say on Rafa Benitez's incredible "facts" rant at Sir Alex Ferguson in 2009.

During the 2008-09 season, Liverpool led Manchester United - sitting seven points clear - in the race for the Premier League title.

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At that moment, now-Newcastle boss Benitez infamously took out a piece of paper and ran off a list of "facts" aimed at Fergie, which the Spaniard claimed were "not mind-games".

Looking back at the incident, Carragher told Gary Neville's Soccerbox: "To be honest, I don't think Ferguson had got in his head and he thought he had to say something,

"I think it was actually started by Rafa, I don't think it was something Ferguson had done.

"Rafa, on the Friday, mentioned to me he was going to say something in his press conference before it happened.

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"So it was pre-meditated. It wasn't a reaction to something.

"I didn't know what he was going to say.

"Still to this day people always say it affected us, but I don't think it did because we only lost two games in the whole season.

"It wasn't like we completely went off the rails. I just don't know why he did it.

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"The only thing I'm thinking of, if I'm being totally honest, is we were going for the league and it was Rafa sort of calling it on with [Manchester United]."

On the incident, Neville added: "I remember being at home that day, watching Sky Sports News and thinking, 'What's he done?'

"It was reported that 'he's cracking up' and then the fans start singing 'Rafa's cracking up' and it did feel like the pressure was getting to him.

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"You can imagine Sir Alex being at home being like 'I've got him'.

"If you're going to call it on with another manager you've got to be sure to win. He was taking Sir Alex on on his own patch: Mind games.

"Everyone had talked for 20 years about mind games, even if it didn't exist - and then all of a sudden it looked like he was cracking up."