Benitez disappointed by Reds
14 Aug 2008 - 08:08:22
Liverpool manager Rafa Benitez admitted that his side had been lucky to escape with a goalless draw from their Champions League trip to Standard Liege.
The Reds had Jose Reina for the blank scoreline in the first leg of their final qualifying round tie, with the Spanish goalkeeper saving a first-half penalty and making several other fine stops.
Afterwards, Benitez commented: "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.
"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.
"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 we 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."