Tuesday, November 25, 2008

Benitez Focused On Marseille

Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez has told his players to focus on Wednesday's Champions League clash against Marseille and forget the frustrating draw with Fulham.

The Reds missed the chance to go three points clear at the top of the Barclays Premier League at the weekend after failing to break down the resilient Cottagers at Anfield. But the squad have no time to dwell on lost opportunities as they are back in European action in midweek.

"We are disappointed about Saturday but we cannot talk about past games now," said Benitez.

A victory over the French visitors - shock 1-0 winners on Merseyside last season - would secure a place in the knockout stage with one Group D match still to play.

They would even go through with a draw on Wednesday if PSV Eindhoven fail to beat Atletico Madrid on the same night.

Ensuring qualification with a match to spare would allow Benitez to rest players and therefore assist their Premier League challenge.

Benitez added: "We have to think about making mistakes and analyse why and find solutions for the next game.

"We are frustrated, really frustrated. How can we change that now? We have to analyse and talk to the players about the mistakes and try to change for the next game."

Defender Jamie Carragher admitted the players have to accept they will encounter some frustrating times at home but they have to learn how to deal with them and ensure it does not have a knock-on effect.

"Pretty much every team that comes to Anfield plays counter-attacking football and we can't complain about that, especially as we've done the same thing in many big away games in Europe," he told the Liverpool Echo. "We've just got to adapt to it and overcome it because if we want to challenge for the title that is something we're going to have to do."

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