Liverpool goalkeeper Pepe Reina has said that he does not
believe an early European exit for the club would be a complete
disaster.
Reina knows that his side must win their two remaining games and
hope already-qualified Lyon can do them a favour against Italian
side Fiorentina, but maintains that the Reds' rich European history
makes up for this season's woes.
"I do not accept that not going through will be a disaster for the
club," he said. "We have been in the Champions League now for
several years, one failure is not a disaster.
"Not many teams have reached the semi-finals twice and two finals -
including a title victory - in the last few seasons. It can happen
again, we get closer to our real form with every game. Any team
would miss the quality of the players who are injured at the
moment, but we have others who can play and who can produce the
right performances to get us out of this mess."
Liverpool's next game in the tournament is a must-win trip to
Debrecen on November 24, and Reina believes his team have to dig
deep if they are going to pick themselves up.
"We must show heart, passion and belief," he added. "If anyone can
do this, Liverpool can. But now it (qualification) is not in our
own hands, it does not only depend on what we do.
"Now it is very, very difficult for us. But we must show strong
character and fight right to the end. We know we have enough good
players to sort this out."
[b]What next? Torres saying playing in Europa is not a
disaster? Or Carragher saying dropping a division is not a disaster
because they have been in the first division for many
seasons