Benitez calls on Gerrard to lead by example

LIVERPOOL manager Rafael Benitez has called on captain Steven Gerrard to be the standard bearer as he leads his team into “battle” in the remainder of the season.

The England midfielder returned to form in Sunday’s 3-0 home win over Sunderland having previously admitted he had failed to deliver this season.

Benitez had called for his “big names” to start setting an example for the rest of the squad and re-emphasised the point ahead of their difficult Europa League quarter-final first leg tie against Benfica in Lisbon tonight.

And he tried to motivate the squad further by resorting to military terminology, likening Gerrard to a general striding out in front of his troops.

“The captain is a key player and if he goes forward and works very hard everyone will see this and everyone will follow him,” said the Spaniard.

“That is really important for the rest of the season, for the team and him also.

“It is important to have players pushing and working hard as it means the rest of the players will say ‘Okay, come on’.

“You know when you go into a battle the first one has the flag and everyone follows him and then it is easier.

“If you go with the flag and don’t see anyone around you it is always more difficult to win.

“We will stick together and that is crucial for the rest of the season.”

Benitez played down the significance of Gerrard playing in his preferred central midfield role against the Black Cats, despite him looking a different player to the one who was so ineffectual in the defeat at Manchester United the previous weekend.

The Reds boss said he called in a number of players – including Gerrard – after that loss to speak to them and that appeared to have prompted the performance against Sunderland.

“We had a conversation on Monday after the defeat against United, with him and some other players, and it was a very good conversation,” added Benitez.

“I felt you could see the difference against Sunderland, with everyone pushing from the first minute and everything was positive.

“Now we have the majority of the senior players available maybe you can see the real Liverpool at this moment.”

About the only thing Benfica and Sunderland have in common is the name of their grounds and taking on the Portuguese league leaders in the Estadio da Luz tonight will be a formidable task.

Benfica were the side who ended Liverpool’s hopes of being the first club to successfully defend their Champions League title when they won 1-0 at Anfield and 2-0 on aggregate in the last 16 of the 2005/6 competition.

Those two games still frustrate Benitez but he knows he has a chance to rectify what he felt was bad luck in the coming two matches.

“It is important to approach the game with confidence,” said the Spaniard.

“Benfica are scoring goals and are top of their league so we know it will be difficult over two legs,” he added.

“But we can go with confidence knowing we can score – it is very important to score away.

“Benfica played Champions League in the past against us. They have experience and some good players.

“We also have experience at this level and it is an important game for both.’’

For his part, Benfica coach Jorge Jesus believes tonight’s match will feature the two strongest sides left in the Europa League.

He said: “At the beginning of the season, Liverpool were strong candidates in the Champions League and now they are playing in the Europa League.

“Along with Benfica, they are the strongest team in the competition, so the two strongest teams are going to play each other and we are ready for it. They are very good tactically and technically, but we are ready for them.”

He continued: “Liverpool are the strongest side we will have played in the competition so far, but it will all depend on us – how well we play and if we concentrate.”

While acknowledging Liverpool’s overall strengths, the 55-year-old says his side will be paying particular attention to Fernando Torres, with the Spain international having scored 20 goals in his 26 starts so far this season.

“Torres will be a player to watch – we will keep our eye on him,” he said. “He is very good at creating spaces in attack and at finishing, so we will keep our eye on him.”

Meanwhile Liverpool midfielder Alberto Aquilani has been ruled out of tonight’s match.

The Italy international sustained an ankle injury in training yesterday morning and will not travel to Lisbon, although manager Rafael Benitez does not believe it is a serious problem.