Benitez wonders whether winning the competition reduced their competitive edge.

"Chelsea were a top side who had already won many trophies but were missing one," said Benítez. "But then they won the Champions League, a massive achievement. It's like: 'OK, we have done the most difficult thing.' And it changes a little bit the perception. It is normal.

"It changes the approach for the next competition. But if you want to stay at the maximum level for a while, you have to be competitive. That is the difficult thing, to manage the hunger of the players and the hunger of the staff."