Benitez: Gerrard beating the rumours

LIVERPOOL manager Rafael Benitez has praised captain Steven Gerrard for raising his game against the background of rumours of problems with his marriage.

On Tuesday, Gerrard’s wife Alex Curran denied there were any difficulties with their marriage and Benitez has praised his captain for his professional attitude on the pitch.

Curran said in an interview with OK! magazine: “There have been loads of rumours going around Liverpool saying that me and Steven have split up, that he’s moved into a hotel and ridiculous things like that. This always comes up every couple of years.”

The 29-year-old England international produced his best display in recent months to score twice in the 4-0 win over Burnley on Sunday and Benitez hopes his captain will be able to produce the same inspirational performance in their Europa League semi-final second leg against Atletico Madrid.

Trailing 1-0 from last week’s match in the Spanish capital, Liverpool have to score and with a striker crisis at Anfield – Fernando Torres (knee) has been ruled out for the rest of the campaign while David Ngog (hamstring) and Dirk Kuyt (calf) are major doubts – Gerrard is the key player tonight.

“It was important for him to score with all the rumours and he was playing well,” said Benitez of the midfielder’s performance at Turf Moor.

“I think it has been very good for the team. Now we can concentrate on our game and try to do the best, like Gerrard the other day scoring two.

“We have a lot of belief and everyone is ready so we have to show this on the pitch. If we can’t keep a clean sheet we are ready to score more goals. If we attack and create chances, we have people who can score.”

For his part, striker Sergio Aguero last night dodged questions about his future and a possible move to England. Last week the Argentina international was quoted as saying he could learn from players like Didier Drogba and Frank Lampard and that Chelsea were a “great club”.

However, despite speculation about his future – he is widely expected to leave the Vicente Calderon in the summer – he is focused on booking the club’s place in the Europa League final.

“The day before an important semi-final, I don’t think is the right time to talk about my future,” Aguero said.

“From now until June I am concentrating on games and doing my best for Atleti. At the end of the season we’ll perhaps sit down with the club and decide on a course of action which best suits us both.”