Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez believes that his side must win a trophy soon in order to reward the club's supporters for their patience and devotion.
The Reds travel to Unirea Urziceni on Thursday night for the second leg of their Europa League knock-out phase tie. Far from seeing the competition as a distraction from his side's league campaign, Benitez feels that it represents a real chance to claim some silverware this season.
"When you win a European competition it is always very important," he told his club's official website.
"Stevie [Gerrard] and Carra [Jamie Carragher] have that experience; also it is something I know from Valencia.
"If you cannot be in the Champions League, you have to do your best in this tournament and we would love to give a trophy to our fans. We want to do something important.
"We have got to try to keep winning games, doing our best and you never know - we might be able to win the trophy.
"But first we know we are playing a good team. They are well organised, compact and they showed why they did well in the [Champions League] group stages last week."
Benitez also praised the attitude of his players in what has been a tricky and challenging season for his squad so far.
"We know it has not been a good season, but all teams go through periods like this," he added.
"You just have to carry on, keep working hard and move forward. This is a different and difficult situation but we have to manage.
"The attitude of the players has been fantastic. It was massive to see the way they reacted to going out of the Champions League."
The Reds travel to Unirea Urziceni on Thursday night for the second leg of their Europa League knock-out phase tie. Far from seeing the competition as a distraction from his side's league campaign, Benitez feels that it represents a real chance to claim some silverware this season.
"When you win a European competition it is always very important," he told his club's official website.
"Stevie [Gerrard] and Carra [Jamie Carragher] have that experience; also it is something I know from Valencia.
"If you cannot be in the Champions League, you have to do your best in this tournament and we would love to give a trophy to our fans. We want to do something important.
"We have got to try to keep winning games, doing our best and you never know - we might be able to win the trophy.
"But first we know we are playing a good team. They are well organised, compact and they showed why they did well in the [Champions League] group stages last week."
Benitez also praised the attitude of his players in what has been a tricky and challenging season for his squad so far.
"We know it has not been a good season, but all teams go through periods like this," he added.
"You just have to carry on, keep working hard and move forward. This is a different and difficult situation but we have to manage.
"The attitude of the players has been fantastic. It was massive to see the way they reacted to going out of the Champions League."
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