Benitez: 'Ref must be strong'

Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez is hoping the referee in tomorrow’s Champions League match against Chelsea gives his team a fair deal.

Italian official Roberto Rossetti has controlled five Champions League matches this season. All ended in home wins, with one exception – Chelsea’s win over Valencia in Spain in October.

The teams go into tomorrow’s semi-final second leg at Stamford Bridge level, after John Arne Riise’s injury-time own goal last week gave Avram Grant’s men a 1-1 draw at Anfield.

Benitez said: “In the last six games in Europe he has refereed, five times the local team have won and once they haven’t. That was Valencia against Chelsea - it’s very curious.

“If he knows he must be strong, that is okay.”

The Spaniard was also critical of Austrian referee Konrad Plautz for giving so much added time in the first leg.

He added today: “I’m not bothered about how I’m judged – I’m more bothered about how we progress in the competition.

“We have focus and now we are trying to go to the final. We must do the right things.”