Rafael Benitez has expressed his delight at the return of Fernando
Torres and backed him to fire Liverpool into the Europa League last
eight.
Torres drew a blank in the 1-0 defeat in Lille on Thursday
night, although that was partly due to the brilliance of goalkeeper
Mickael Landreau.
He produced a superb low save from Torres' six-yard header
just before half-time to keep the clean sheet which meant Eden
Hazard's 85th-minute free-kick was enough to secure victory.
Torres' record in European competition is nowhere close as
good as his domestic one, with 30 appearances in the Champions and
Europa League bringing just 10 giaks.
He has not found the net in Europe since the 3-1 Champions
League quarter-final defeat by Chelsea at Anfield on April 8.
And you have to go back to his debut season with Liverpool
for his last goal on foreign soil - which was the Champions League
last-16 second-leg winner against Inter Milan in the San Siro on
March 11 2008.
That compares unfavourably with his incredible Premier League
haul of 51 goals in 75 matches.
A knee operation in January sidelined him for six weeks and
the 25-year-old is still not fully-match fit but Benitez was
pleased with Torres' performance in Lille and believes che ould
well prove to be the key figure as they attempt to overturn a
one-goal deficit when the French club visit Anfield next Thursday.
"It was really important to see Fernando fighting from the
beginning because it sent a very good message to the other
players," said the Reds chief.
"He was trying to win balls in the air, running and chasing
defenders and for the rest of the team that was a good message and
maybe he can be an inspiration too.
"The main thing is the attitude. Any player in our team has
attitude and they are good players and they can play well like
Fernando.
"He is a top-class player, he has a good attitude and he can
score and be a problem for all defenders.
"At home normally you are attacking more and have more
options and opportunities so for a striker it is easier.
"Statistically you have more chances. Away it is more
difficult because sometimes you have to play on your own and your
team-mates have to go and support you so it is different.
"He was doing well in Lille but it was difficult for him
because they have pace, are comfortable in possession and going
forward are a threat - so we had to defend.
"You cannot defend against a team with this pace too high
because they will get men behind but you cannot defend too deep
because they have ability.
"So for our defenders to defend and then go and support
Fernando was not easy.
"Ryan was doing well, Kuyt was doing well, Gerrard was doing
well, Lucas and Javier had to work very hard in defence."
Benitez also defended his star striker after yet another 90
minutes of frustration eventually resulted in him being booked for
complaining once too often to referee Claus Bo Larsen.
"It is not easy for him. There were too many fouls and too
many decisions," said the Spaniard.
"I don't want to talk too much about this because it wasn't
the difference but with so many referees (the Europa League have
two additional assistants at either end of the pitch) I think they
should do better sometimes.
"We have plenty of them but they still make mistakes."
Benitez expects his team to have to do all the running in the
return leg at Anfield as he believes Lille will be less
offensively-minded with a 1-0 lead to protect.
"I think they will wait, try to play counter-attack because
they know they have pace," he said.
"We know a clean sheet will be important for us but to score
one, two or three goals will be necessary."
