Source: SKY_Sports
Rafa wants more from star pair
Rafa Benitez has admitted it was disappointing to see Steven Gerrard and Fernando Torres kept so quiet against Fiorentina.
Gerrard and Torres have forged a lethal attacking partnership for Liverpool and were expected to provide Fiorentina with plenty of problems in Tuesday's UEFA Champions League clash at Artemio Franchi.
However, they rarely threatened as the Reds went down 2-0 and Benitez was impressed by how well the Italian side defended.
Benitez nevertheless believes Liverpool's other players could have done more to make up for below-par performances from the star duo.
"Fiorentina did a good job (against Gerrard and Torres)," the Liverpool manager conceded.
"It was disappointing to see them both kept out of the game as they were. The Fiorentina defenders handled them very well, they worked really hard against them.
"But it is not just about two players, nobody in the team was producing anything.
"Sometimes when defenders are too worried about Gerrard and Torres, it gives the rest of our team the chance to make use of the space.
"They can take that responsibility, but for long periods that did not happen.
"But this is not the end of things in Europe for us, and we must regroup and show the right mentality for our next match against Chelsea on Sunday."
Benitez recognises that the two upcoming games against Lyon have taken on extra significance.
"What happened, particularly in the first half, is very hard to explain," he said.
"We were expecting a difficult game, we knew Fiorentina would work hard and really press us when we were in possession, but we gave the ball away and we were not in the game.
"The players were frustrated with some decisions, but that was not the cause. We were not good enough and they let their frustrations show.
"The next two games in the group against Lyon are very important.
We only have four games left in this group so we need two wins for sure.
"We must keep going until the end, we have to be ready for the next matches."
