Benítez has also had confrontations with Sam Allardyce when he was manager of Newcastle United and Blackburn Rovers. When Allardyce was manager of Newcastle, he suggested Benítez would have been dismissed had Liverpool's European form been as bad as their league form. In a match in April 2009 when Allardyce was manager of Blackburn, he accused Benítez of arrogance over a gesture he made when Fernando Torres scored Liverpool's second goal. Allardyce suggested that Benítez had signalled the game was over despite Liverpool only having a two-goal lead. This view was later supported by Sir Alex Ferguson. Benítez, however, later explained this gesture: he said he had previously told Xabi Alonso to take a short free-kick. This instruction was ignored, which resulted in a goal. Benítez said that he had jokingly signalled to Alonso to ignore his instructions and not that he thought the game was effectively over.