Benitez defends Liverpool before crunch tie

RAFAEL BENITEZ had to withstand a tortuous trip to the Ukraine yesterday before walking straight into an astonishing assault on Liverpool’s motives and character ahead of tonight’s Champions League showdown against Maccabi Haifa.

Liverpool’s flight from John Lennon airport was delayed for 90 minutes due to mechanical problems before they were forced to wait for another 90 minutes at Kiev airport to get their baggage because their plane had been parked in the wrong place.

Eventually the charter plane was moved to the correct place to allow the baggage to be unloaded, but not before there had been further delays over Chile international Mark Gonzalez’s visa, while Peter Crouch was unable to produce his passport because it was stuck in the hold while the baggage row continued.