LYON's DEN.. Rafa faces
crucial clash..
When I asked how long before he reconsidered his
future, the Liverpool boss replied: "My future is against
Lyon."
After the 3-1 defeat at Fulham, their eighth loss this
season, the Wednesday clash with Lyon is make-or-break for Benitez
who has major doubts over Fernando Torres and Steven Gerrard.
Lose in France in the Champions League and Benitez will
be left without any vestige of excuse to masquerade a disastrous
campaign that has seen his lousy Liverpool lose half their
matches.
Rarely has so much rested on a game so early in a
campaign. So the significance of the Lyon result is impossible to
underestimate, particularly as rivals Fiorentina face Group E
whipping boys Debreceni.
Liverpool already trail leaders Lyon by six points and
Fiorentina by three. Another defeat means they cannot catch Lyon,
while the Italians would be all but out of sight.
Benitez said: "The most important thing for me is to
know how many players we have available and start preparing a
team."
Stand-in skipper Jamie Carragher said: "These are tough
times and it hurts a lot.
"This is un-Liverpool like. But it is not just the fans
who are disappointed, it is the players, the staff and the
manager.
"We have got to get back on track with Lyon, which is
another massive game.
"We made up for a few things last week by beating
Manchester United. Then we have had two defeats since.
"There is only us on the pitch that can turn it around
and there will be a lot of talk about this result again.
"We have got to sort this out with the management and
staff. We can't afford to be too down-hearted for too long because
we've got to get ready for the next game."
The bookmakers have already given their verdict -
Liverpool are 9-1 favourites to win the EUROPA
LEAGUE. Ladbrokes offer 7-2 that Benitez will not even
last the month.Inspirational skipper Gerrard is still a doubt for
Lyon after missing the Fulham defeat with a groin problem.
Torres was subbed on the hour at Craven Cottage despite
not suffering any ill-effects.
But Benitez still insisted the Spanish star needed four
days to recover after playing 80 minutes against United and was a
doubt.
He added: "Maybe David Ngog will be available. Gerrard
could be. We'll have to see about Martin Skrtel and Daniel
Agger.
"We don't know about Torres. The last time it was four
days to be ready again.
"But that's the problem we have now with injuries, you
cannot play without Gerrard, without Torres, without Johnson,
without Albert Riera, without a lot of players in too many
games."
Benitez defended his decision to include Torres in the
starting line-up and then haul him off to introduce Ryan Babel
after 63 minutes even though the game was at 1-1.
He said: "We needed to do something because always you
think about protecting the player. In this case we were more or
less in control of the game.
"But we had some chances in attack with Andriy Voronin,
Dirk Kuyt, Yossi Benayoun and Ryan Babel so to keep the player on
the pitch could be a problem - maybe you lose the player for one
month.
"We were analysing before the game what to do. So we
decided to play him. That was the most difficult decision. And
after you have to manage during the game.
"The question is, if you don't play Torres you'll be
talking about why he is not playing so it's a difficult
decision.
"This league will be difficult but you can see that all
the teams can lose and lose points."
Having already lost to both Fiorentina and Lyon, the
Reds are faced with disaster should they capitulate again.
Benitez has in the past pulled Liverpool back from the
brink of Euro elimination, famously against Olympiakos in 2004 when
Liverpool scored three second-half goals and went on to win the
trophy in Istanbul.
The Kop boss added: "Hopefully we have experience and
confidence and can do it."
He also refused to write off his side's title hopes. He
added: "We have to win against Birmingham. That is the
priority."
