After a prolonged battle for the championship, Benitez pointedly refused to give Ferguson any personal praise, preferring instead to acknowledge Manchester United as a club.

The Liverpool boss is still aggrieved at some of the main arguments in his infamous 'Rafa's rant', namely that Ferguson is allowed to behave in a manner other managers would not get away with.

Still, it seemed churlish in the extreme for Benitez not to at least offer his rival a pat on the back for his 11th league title.

Ferguson was certainly pretty taken aback by such conduct, even if his feud seems to have superseded his long dispute with Arsene Wenger.

However, with a Champions League final against Barcelona to look forward to next Wednesday, the United chief was not in the mood to extend the matter further.

"I was surprised," said Ferguson.

"But really, it was a great season for us and I am not that worried about anyone else."