Drogba battles with Carragher in the first leg

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Chelsea striker Didier Drogba has hit back at Liverpool boss Rafa Benitez, accusing the Liverpool manager of a lack of class.

On Sunday, Benitez criticised the Ivory Coast international, revealing that he has a compiled four-year dossier of examples that he believes show Drogba going down under challenges too easily.

Blues boss Avram Grant has since defended Drogba against accusations of diving, but Benitez responded on Tuesday, remaining adamant that he 'falls down too easily'.

And now Drogba has entered the war of words ahead of the UEFA Champions League semi-final second leg clash at Stamford Bridge, live on Sky Sports 2, insisting that he has come in for rough treatment in his previous games against Liverpool.

Undignified

"Benitez was a coach I used to respect a lot. I used to believe he had class but he has seriously disappointed me," he told L'Equipe.

"His words have shown his weakness. A great coach will never attack a player so meanly.

"If he doesn't want me to fall down he should focus on his team's game and tell his defenders to stop fouling me.

"In the first leg, [Jamie] Carragher and [Martin] Skrtel didn't stop. At the end of the match I was covered in bruises.

"Last year, I picked up a broken rib during the Champions League semi-final against Liverpool.

"Unsurprisingly, Benitez didn't take note of this in his statistics."