Benitez backs Liverpool to produce another ‘miracle’
To stay in contention for a last 16 place, Liverpool need to beat Hungarian champions Debrecen and hope Lyon do not lose away to Fiorentina in tonight’s other Group E match.
Benitez acknowledges Liverpool face an uphill task – but believes anything is still possible.
The Anfield chief explained: “We have produced miracles before, we can do the same again.
“It will be difficult, maybe another miracle. But all we can do is our job.
“If we can then play against Fiorentina with options of winning and qualifying next week, that will be fantastic. Hopefully we can do it.
“Last time in this position we managed to qualify and it was amazing. It will be the same if we do it again.
“We had to win our last three games two years ago in the group stages, now it is only two. We achieved success in a great way, scoring four against Porto, eight against Besiktas and four in Marseille. That was magnificent. This time if we go through it will be just the same feeling.”
The Spaniard was in a confident mood for his pre-match press conference where once again he was asked that if Liverpool fail to qualify, will that be the end of his Liverpool career.
He laughed and responded: “No, I don’t think so.”
Benitez also dismissed the conspiracy theory that Lyon will let Fiorentina win to make sure that Liverpool are eliminated.
He said: “It is an advantage to qualify in first place, so Lyon will want to do that.
“They are good professionals and want to win. It will be good for the club and give them more money, too, they will want to be top because you never know what the draw will throw at them.
“It will be good for the Lyon coach and his players to want to be top, I have confidence that they will try to do that.”
Defender Jamie Carragher is also confident Liverpool can pull off another great escape.
He said: “We always believe at this club that we can do special things. We have done it in the past and we know we can do it again.
“We have grown up with this team and the manager over the last five years, so it (the Champions League) is a part of the club.
“We have got ourselves into a bit of a hole, and hopefully we can get out of it. It has been done before and we know we can do it again.
“We have to win our own game. The worse possible scenario is that the other game goes for us and we don’t do our job. We must concentrate on our own game.
“We cannot worry about what has happened in the past, we must look forward and still believe we can go through (to the last 16).
“If we don’t then we will have to deal with it.”
Debrecen coach Andras Herczeg, meanwhile, has challenged his players to make history by ending Liverpool’s Champions League dreams.
The 53-year-old Hungarian, whose team have lost all four of their Group E matches in their debut Champions League season, said: “If we even draw against Liverpool it will be the greatest result in our club’s history.”
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