Rafa disappointed by 'lucky' Reds

Liverpool boss Rafael Benitez admitted that his side were fortunate to have escaped from their Champions League ordeal against Standard Liege with their interest in the competition still intact.

Liege were highly unfortunate not to have won this third qualifying round first-leg match, after a storming performance in front of their fanatical fans.

In the end a 0-0 draw will delight Liverpool, who turned in a worryingly disjointed performance.

Benitez said: “We were very lucky to have got away with a draw, very lucky not to have conceded goals.

“It was a very disappointing performance. But the team know they have to improve, and I did not have to say much to them in the dressing room, sometimes you do not need many words.”

Liverpool’s hero was goalkeeper Jose Reina, who saved a first-half penalty. The Spanish goalkeeper also looked to have clawed another effort back from behind the goal-line in a first-half when the Belgian champions threatened to overrun the Anfield side.

Benitez is putting his faith in a much improved display in the second leg at Anfield in a fortnight. If not, then Liverpool could go the same way as Rangers, who have also failed to get to the group stages of the lucrative competition.

Benitez said: “It will be different at Anfield, there we are expected to win and we will have our own fans behind us. Liege had their very noisy fans for the first leg.”

The five-time European Cup winners could easily have finished the match three or four goals in arrears.

Benitez said: “We were not surprised by the fine performance of the Liege side, we had seen enough of them to know they were a good, aggressive side.

“The real surprise for me was the way Liverpool played. The only positive to take from the match was the fact that we did not concede a goal.

“We will have to be a lot better in the second leg at Anfield, much better.

“We have been playing well in pre-season, looking confident and passing the ball well.

“But we did not do any of those things. I did not want to bring Steven Gerrard on because the doctors had told me he was not fit enough to start the match.”

He added: “We waited until well into the second-half before using him, but we were not controlling the game and I had to bring him on.”

Gerrard was initially ruled out with a thigh strain and looked well short of his combative best when he eventually entered the fray.

Praising his Spanish goalkeeper, Benitez added: “Jose Reina was the man of the match.

“We know we can always rely on Pepe to stop penalties, but we have been told that the other effort may have been behind the line, but these things happen.”

Liege coach Laszlo Boloni said: “Liverpool maybe came here asleep and not expecting this sort of game.

“Maybe, though, we have woken them up for the second leg, which will me much harder for us.

“We felt that if we did not lose this leg, we would still be in with a chance. We know, though, that we still have to score and that could be the problem.

“But I want to praise my team. They attacked Liverpool from the start, and when their goalkeeper pulled the ball back from behind the line, maybe the referee was asleep too.”