John Terry reveals Chelsea team-mates ‘pulled him back’ after furious dressing room confrontation with Rafa Benitez
JOHN TERRY once had to be pulled back by his Chelsea team-mates during a confrontation with Rafa Benitez.
The former Blues captain had a strained relationship with Benitez during his tenure as interim manager.
Benitez started Terry just five times in the league whilst in charge, to the dismay of the ex-England defender.
Terry’s frustrations got the better of him after Chelsea were beaten by Manchester City in the last four of the FA Cup in April 2013.
He recalled their dressing room clash on the Obi One podcast, telling former team-mate Jon Obi Mikel: “We played Man City in the FA Cup, and he wasn’t playing me, so we were at loggerheads, arguing on the training pitch.
“He was leaving me out of the team, leaving me off the bench, but I insisted on travelling with the team. I was on the bench at Man City, and we lost 2-1.
“We came in after the game and he addressed the group and said ‘Oh well guys, it doesn’t matter, we have another game at the weekend’.
“At the time, you could feel Man City were doing something, and I’d just had enough. I said, ‘Is that accepted? No chance. You’ve accepted us losing to Man City!’
“I’m across the dressing room, all the lads are pulling me back, he’s now coming towards me, and I just said ‘That’s not accepted at Chelsea. Maybe at Liverpool losing a quarter-final is acceptable, but at Chelsea, that’s not accepted!”
Terry played just 16 times under Benitez after the Spaniard replaced Roberto Di Matteo in the dugout.
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The former Liverpool boss won the Europa League and secured a third place finish during his temporary spell at Stamford Bridge.
Meanwhile, Terry came back into the side the following campaign as Jose Mourinho returned to West London.
He missed just four league matches and played 47 matches across all competitions following Benitez’s exit.