Rafael Benítez insisted Liverpool would return to their Premier League title challenge with renewed self-belief after taking pride and encouragement from their Champions League exit at Chelsea last night.
The Liverpool manager admitted "one or two mistakes" says we undermined his team's remarkable recovery at Stamford Bridge, with Jose Reina caught out at his near post for Chelsea's opening goal, but was in no mood for recriminations following a performance that took Guus Hiddink's team to the wire despite trailing 3–1 from the first leg.
"We saw character, quality and we have to be really proud," said Benítez, who has now exited the Champions League at this venue for two successive seasons. "The players did a fantastic job and the fans can be very pleased with the team. We were on top of them from the beginning and did a fantastic job. Credit to all the players, especially Lucas in the middle in [Steven] Gerrard's position. We were very, very close."
Benítez denied fatigue played a part in Liverpool's dramatic aggregate defeat and was unhappy at the performance of the Spanish referee, Luis Medina Cantalejo. He said: "When you play against a good team like Chelsea and make a mistake, you pay for it. We were attacking, controlling it, but one or two mistakes and that's it. We had 29 fouls against us, too. I prefer not to talk too much about the referee. Twenty nine fouls against us. We are not happy with the result at the end. I said congratulations to Guus and all the best for the Champions League, but I was not happy."
Despite the result, the Liverpool manager claimed his players would take heart from scoring four goals at Stamford Bridge – a feat they also achieved at Old Trafford – into their remaining six games in the Premier League. "Clearly, when you lose, you have to be disappointed," Benítez added. "But to lose in this way, you have to be proud and start thinking about the Premier League. We showed we could score four goals here at Stamford Bridge and we can do that in any stadium now."
Liverpool were without Steven Gerrard for the second leg after their captain aggravated an adductor strain on the eve of the game. "We thought he'd be OK but he felt something," admitted Benítez. "It was an easy decision in the end. We saw before that we have a good squad, with very important players like [Fernando] Torres and Gerrard who can score lots of goals, but we showed the rest of the players can do that too. I think Gerrard will be OK for Arsenal [next Tuesday]. We thought he'd be available today, but hopefully he will be fine."
Benítez also defended his decision to withdraw Fernando Torres late on. He explained: "I thought it was going to be difficult [when he took Torres off], so I thought I'd change and put more quality on. Different players can do different things. It can go one way or the other."
The Liverpool manager admitted "one or two mistakes" says we undermined his team's remarkable recovery at Stamford Bridge, with Jose Reina caught out at his near post for Chelsea's opening goal, but was in no mood for recriminations following a performance that took Guus Hiddink's team to the wire despite trailing 3–1 from the first leg.
"We saw character, quality and we have to be really proud," said Benítez, who has now exited the Champions League at this venue for two successive seasons. "The players did a fantastic job and the fans can be very pleased with the team. We were on top of them from the beginning and did a fantastic job. Credit to all the players, especially Lucas in the middle in [Steven] Gerrard's position. We were very, very close."
Benítez denied fatigue played a part in Liverpool's dramatic aggregate defeat and was unhappy at the performance of the Spanish referee, Luis Medina Cantalejo. He said: "When you play against a good team like Chelsea and make a mistake, you pay for it. We were attacking, controlling it, but one or two mistakes and that's it. We had 29 fouls against us, too. I prefer not to talk too much about the referee. Twenty nine fouls against us. We are not happy with the result at the end. I said congratulations to Guus and all the best for the Champions League, but I was not happy."
Despite the result, the Liverpool manager claimed his players would take heart from scoring four goals at Stamford Bridge – a feat they also achieved at Old Trafford – into their remaining six games in the Premier League. "Clearly, when you lose, you have to be disappointed," Benítez added. "But to lose in this way, you have to be proud and start thinking about the Premier League. We showed we could score four goals here at Stamford Bridge and we can do that in any stadium now."
Liverpool were without Steven Gerrard for the second leg after their captain aggravated an adductor strain on the eve of the game. "We thought he'd be OK but he felt something," admitted Benítez. "It was an easy decision in the end. We saw before that we have a good squad, with very important players like [Fernando] Torres and Gerrard who can score lots of goals, but we showed the rest of the players can do that too. I think Gerrard will be OK for Arsenal [next Tuesday]. We thought he'd be available today, but hopefully he will be fine."
Benítez also defended his decision to withdraw Fernando Torres late on. He explained: "I thought it was going to be difficult [when he took Torres off], so I thought I'd change and put more quality on. Different players can do different things. It can go one way or the other."
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