Benitez dreams of league title

Rafael Benitez has watched grimly as Manchester United have claimed the Champions League and Premier League crown, and now admits winning the title with Liverpool would be his biggest achievement.

Unsurprisingly, the national euphoria surrounding United’s achievements did not extend to the red half of Merseyside.

Even the club’s own TV channel this week declared a ’Moscow-free zone’ and ran a succession of programmes devoted to Liverpool’s last Champions League triumph in Istanbul three years ago.

However, Benitez has not closed his eyes to the giant steps United have made in recent weeks, and the stark reality of Liverpool’s quest to win the title for the first time since 1990.

Benitez is juggling his transfer budget and working desperately to buy and sell to improve the Anfield squad.

Now he accepts that for him to bring the title back to Liverpool would be a greater achievement than winning the European Cup with Liverpool in his first season.

The Spaniard claims it would also be better than breaking Real Madrid and Barcelona’s stranglehold on the Spanish league, which he achieved for Valencia before moving to Anfield.

Asked if the title would outstrip winning in Europe with Liverpool and taking the title in Spain, he said: “Yes, clearly. It is more difficult here than in Spain because the top sides spend big, big money.

“We will try to do our best and the key for me is to not talk about the title. The key is to be near the top, to be contenders. If we stay close then I think we are capable of doing it.”

He added: “It is an option, for sure. We know our weaknesses and our strengths. We know where we need to improve, so we’ll try to build a new team looking at these things.”

But Benitez knows that United and beaten European finalists Chelsea will spend vast amounts in the summer, cash that Liverpool cannot match.

It is clear that the American owners cannot even repeat last season’s buying power that brought £26million Fernando Torres to Anfield with such great success.

Benitez must raise £20-30million himself from selling stars like Scott Carson, Peter Crouch, Jermaine Pennant, Steve Finnan, John Arne Riise and Xabi Alonso. Sources even claim he can count on little more than £15million from the club.

It is a daunting prospect, but Benitez remains confident, although he is conscious not to increase expectation as happened before last season.

He said: “We showed character at the end and that’s really important. We showed that in difficult times we can be good and win games.

“As a manager, it was also important for me to see how the people around the team reacted to everything.

“When you talk about a winning mentality and winning trophies, you need to see the character of your people. The season was very good in terms of knowing the people.

“We have analysed a lot of things. For example, we have conceded a lot of goals from set pieces. We need to understand why because the season before we conceded six, now it’s 16, yet we’re doing more or less the same things. We can improve in this area.

“We also need to keep the team scoring in open play while at the same time improving a little bit in defence. We have been really good in defence for three of four years, but I think we need to improve a little bit if we want to be at the top of the table.”

In an interview to be screened tonight on Liverpoolfc.tv, Benitez added: “During the season you must do your job with the players you have and afterwards, in the summer, you need to do your job with the staff. ”It’s really important to sign the right players with the right mentality – a winning mentality. You want players who are desperate to come here and win trophies.

“We started last season well and when we had Daniel Agger before he was injured, we were playing well. But, after all the draws in mid-season, it was important to regain the confidence.

“In the end we were playing really well, winning games in a row and producing good football.

“You could see the understanding between (Steven) Gerrard and Torres, but other players were also scoring goals. We have the spine for next season and now we need to add players in certain positions.”

Manchester United’s stunning success and vast financial muscle has been a painful reality to check for Liverpool, with skipper Steven Gerrard claiming that his manager faces a “massive summer.”

So far only Swiss free-transfer defender Philipp Degen has been signed.