Rafa Benitez dismissed fears of a French conspiracy wrecking his Champions League hopes as he chases the miracle that will keep Liverpool alive in the competition.
Liverpool must beat Debrecen here and then bank on Lyon denying Fiorentina a home victory in Group E’s other game to ensure there is something riding on the final match with the Italians at Anfield on December 9.
Lyon have already reached the knockout stages and it was put to Benitez that his team’s recent impressive record in the competition means the French side would prefer seeing Liverpool dumped out so they could not meet them again in the knockout rounds.
But Benitez claimed he is not concerned about Lyon, who scored last-minute goals in a 2-1 win and a 1-1 stalemate in their group games with Liverpool, colluding with the Italians.
“I don’t think that will be how they are thinking. They will want to finish at the top of the group,” he said.
“They are good professionals. When you qualify first it can be an advantage in terms of which team you draw, but also for the confidence of the team.
“Lyon will try to win. They have quality and they play good counter-attack football, so we will see. I am confident they will do it.”
Liverpool have twice found themselves cornered at the group stages, in 2005 and 2007, when they needed to win their last three matches to keep alive Benitez’s record of never having stumbled at this stage.
Their destiny is not in their own hands, however, and for that reason Benitez added that reaching the knockout stages again would emulate his best escape acts.
He said: “To win 8-0 against Besiktas, 4-1 against Porto and 4-0 against Marseille was really good and, if we can do it again, it will be as important.”
Liverpool must beat Debrecen here and then bank on Lyon denying Fiorentina a home victory in Group E’s other game to ensure there is something riding on the final match with the Italians at Anfield on December 9.
Lyon have already reached the knockout stages and it was put to Benitez that his team’s recent impressive record in the competition means the French side would prefer seeing Liverpool dumped out so they could not meet them again in the knockout rounds.
But Benitez claimed he is not concerned about Lyon, who scored last-minute goals in a 2-1 win and a 1-1 stalemate in their group games with Liverpool, colluding with the Italians.
“I don’t think that will be how they are thinking. They will want to finish at the top of the group,” he said.
“They are good professionals. When you qualify first it can be an advantage in terms of which team you draw, but also for the confidence of the team.
“Lyon will try to win. They have quality and they play good counter-attack football, so we will see. I am confident they will do it.”
Liverpool have twice found themselves cornered at the group stages, in 2005 and 2007, when they needed to win their last three matches to keep alive Benitez’s record of never having stumbled at this stage.
Their destiny is not in their own hands, however, and for that reason Benitez added that reaching the knockout stages again would emulate his best escape acts.
He said: “To win 8-0 against Besiktas, 4-1 against Porto and 4-0 against Marseille was really good and, if we can do it again, it will be as important.”
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