Paranoia coloured Rafael Benítez's view on several issues yesterday, with the notable exception of the task awaiting Liverpool at Stamford Bridge tonight. An Italian referee who has handled five home wins in six European games this season, including one for Liverpool, and the vagaries of the Football Association's disciplinary process had the Spaniard indulging in conspiracy theories, but this was not a man wilting under the pressure of a turbulent season's defining moment.
So confident is the manager before facing Chelsea that he boasted of José Reina's penalty prowess should their Champions League semi-final second leg rest on another shoot-out lottery. Benítez had been similarly upbeat before the first leg and, despite John Arne Riise's own-goal, it did not take him long to rediscover faith on the path to Moscow.
He says that in his players' eyes he has seen a belief that they can reach a third final in four years, with the likes of Jamie Carragher, Steven Gerrard and Xabi Alonso desperate to repeat their triumph of 2005. "I can see that they are winners and for the players who were in Istanbul and Athens it is even more important to reach the final for a third time," he said.
It was when he was sitting alone in the family home in the Wirral in the early hours last Wednesday that Benítez concluded that Liverpool had nothing to fear from Avram Grant's team. "Forty-five minutes after the game I watched parts of it on video and then I watched it again when I got home," he said. "When you concede a goal in the last second, everything is bad, but after watching the game it was clear we had better chances, had more control and played better than them, and that means we can do it again.
"Chelsea were lucky. In the other semi-finals it was 50-50, or maybe 60-40, and we scored a fantastic goal from Luis García. We were clearly better than them this time. Now we are playing for a final. The players know how important it is to be in a final. I don't need to say too much. They are really focused."
Riise's own-goal has at least simplified the objective for Liverpool as they seek to win their eighth successive European Cup semi-final, with the necessity to score promoting Peter Crouch's claims to start. "It's not a special plan or idea, it's very simple," said Benítez. "We need to score. If we win it will be better. If we draw one-all then we know that Pepe [Reina] is good on penalties. If we draw two-all then we are through. We don't need to win, we need to progress."
The co-owner Tom Hicks is expected to be at the match tonight as Liverpool try to overcome their poor record at Stamford Bridge. They have not scored in eight visits under Benítez and have beaten Chelsea there only once since December 1989. But, with 27 goals in 11 games, Liverpool are the leading scorers in this season's Champions League and have registered in every away fixture. "Statistics are there to be broken," said Benítez. "How many teams have won there in the last 100 or so games?"
Of more concern to him is the referee, Roberto Rosetti, who has presided over one away win in six Champions League games this season: Chelsea's victory at Valencia. "Maybe that is curious," Benítez said. "The referee has experience; he is certainly not bad. If he is strong at Stamford Bridge then things will be OK." Given that Liverpool's 4-1 defeat of Porto was among those five home wins, the manager was on questionable ground. More likely, having spoken of Didier Drogba's theatrics, the Spaniard was simply trying to protect Carragher and Gerrard from the bookings that would rule them out of the final.
So confident is the manager before facing Chelsea that he boasted of José Reina's penalty prowess should their Champions League semi-final second leg rest on another shoot-out lottery. Benítez had been similarly upbeat before the first leg and, despite John Arne Riise's own-goal, it did not take him long to rediscover faith on the path to Moscow.
He says that in his players' eyes he has seen a belief that they can reach a third final in four years, with the likes of Jamie Carragher, Steven Gerrard and Xabi Alonso desperate to repeat their triumph of 2005. "I can see that they are winners and for the players who were in Istanbul and Athens it is even more important to reach the final for a third time," he said.
It was when he was sitting alone in the family home in the Wirral in the early hours last Wednesday that Benítez concluded that Liverpool had nothing to fear from Avram Grant's team. "Forty-five minutes after the game I watched parts of it on video and then I watched it again when I got home," he said. "When you concede a goal in the last second, everything is bad, but after watching the game it was clear we had better chances, had more control and played better than them, and that means we can do it again.
"Chelsea were lucky. In the other semi-finals it was 50-50, or maybe 60-40, and we scored a fantastic goal from Luis García. We were clearly better than them this time. Now we are playing for a final. The players know how important it is to be in a final. I don't need to say too much. They are really focused."
Riise's own-goal has at least simplified the objective for Liverpool as they seek to win their eighth successive European Cup semi-final, with the necessity to score promoting Peter Crouch's claims to start. "It's not a special plan or idea, it's very simple," said Benítez. "We need to score. If we win it will be better. If we draw one-all then we know that Pepe [Reina] is good on penalties. If we draw two-all then we are through. We don't need to win, we need to progress."
The co-owner Tom Hicks is expected to be at the match tonight as Liverpool try to overcome their poor record at Stamford Bridge. They have not scored in eight visits under Benítez and have beaten Chelsea there only once since December 1989. But, with 27 goals in 11 games, Liverpool are the leading scorers in this season's Champions League and have registered in every away fixture. "Statistics are there to be broken," said Benítez. "How many teams have won there in the last 100 or so games?"
Of more concern to him is the referee, Roberto Rosetti, who has presided over one away win in six Champions League games this season: Chelsea's victory at Valencia. "Maybe that is curious," Benítez said. "The referee has experience; he is certainly not bad. If he is strong at Stamford Bridge then things will be OK." Given that Liverpool's 4-1 defeat of Porto was among those five home wins, the manager was on questionable ground. More likely, having spoken of Didier Drogba's theatrics, the Spaniard was simply trying to protect Carragher and Gerrard from the bookings that would rule them out of the final.
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