Riera banished from Liverpool due to bust-up with young reserve player - Exclusive

A training ground bust-up with a young reserve team players lies at the heart of Albert Riera’s banishment from the Liverpool team.

The Spanish international has been suspended, transfer listed, fined heavily and told to stay away from the club until Monday, after an emotional attack on his manager Rafa Benitez.

Riera condemned the Spanish coach for being aloof and refusing to communicate with his players, and he described Anfield as a sinking ship, where action has not been taken to stop a dramatic slide this season.

The winger is angry after being left in the cold since January, with Riera making just one start in 2010, and he claims it is a personal vendetta by Benitez which is damaging his World Cup chances.

And the Mirror can reveal that Benitez DID decide to wash his hands of the Spaniard after the player was involved in an angry exchange with the promising Anfield youngster.

The pair were involved in a training ground bust-up, and Benitez deemed that the senior player was out of order in the way he treated his junior colleague.

That merely added to the tension between the pair that has been growing all season, after Riera had regularly complained that he wasn’t being given a fair chance of first team football since the start of the campaign.

Benitez responded to Riera's criticism following his side's 3-0 victory over Lille in the Europa League .

"The timing was not the best for the team and we have dealt with it internally," said Benitez.

He also claimed Liverpool's performances against Portsmouth and Lille have made a mockery of Riera's claims that they are a "sinking ship".

"It's very clear," he said. "Sometimes you don't need to talk too much. You just need to see the players on the pitch with the fans all together and it is a fantastic thing."

The winger was an almost ever-present last season when Liverpool challenged for the title, but has made just 12 appearances this time around, mostly from the substitutes’ bench.

Riera will be fined two weeks’ wages when he returns to the training ground on Monday, which will amount to something in the region of £70,000, and it is unlikely he will hang around for long, after being transfer listed.

Russia’s transfer window is still open after being extended by UEFA until the middle of April, and both CSKA and Dynamo Moscow are interested in his services, with the Spanish star prepared to move in an attempt to play regular football ahead of the World Cup finals.

Riera sparked the controversy when he said that Benitez was a coach whose dialogue with his players was “practically zero – he thinks he is the boss and everyone else is deaf.”

The winger, who was signed from Espanyol for £8million in 2008, also launched an attack on the way Benitez has handled Liverpool’s crisis this season.

“This year has been difficult, and yet nothing has changed. You see that the team is not good, and yet still he doesn’t change anything. When you see a ship sinking and do not change, then it’s very frustrating,” he said.

"Benitez still has said nothing to me. I donít want a war with the manager but at the same time I am not to blame.

"I am not interested in the slightest in Rafa being my enemy, totally the opposite, I do not want to create trouble, but in this situation I have little chance of going to the World Cup. I am trying to solve the problem so I at least have a small chance.

"I am a player and I have to play. I am delighted to be here but ultimately it is about playing, and if I am not, we have to talk about why not. If I was playing I would love to stay, because it is a brilliant place to play football."

Riera has been told to stay away completely until Monday, which means he will miss the showdown with Manchester United on Sunday, in addition to last night's Europa League tie with Lille. 

Riera suspended, fined and transfer listed after Benitez clash