If Rafael Benítez leaves Liverpool, he'll go fighting to the end

Posted Sunday, April 18, 2010 by theguardian.com

If Rafael Benítez leaves Liverpool, he'll go fighting to the end
Rafael Benítez, the Liverpool manager.

Rafa Benítez's 50th birthday finds the Liverpool manager with half a dozen things on his mind before he can turn his attention to the Europa League semi-final with Atlético Madrid.

First he has to deny, or at least stonewall, persistent suggestions, including fairly detailed comments from his own agent, linking him with a move to Juventus in summer. Then he has to reaffirm that he is employed at the club in a footballing capacity, and any questions about Liverpool's present and future ownership should be addressed to the new chairman, Martin Broughton. Then he has Monday's Premier League game against West Ham to consider and the slim possibility that, if Liverpool win all their remaining games, they could still make it into fourth place.

But most of all he would like a progress report on his star striker, who has been unable to see his specialist in Spain because of all the flights being grounded due to volcanic ash. Fernando Torres has a chance of playing against West Ham tomorrow and would dearly love to play in Madrid later in the week, but on the other hand there is a real possibility that he may have played his final Liverpool game of the season already and even a fear he may need an operation.

"The situation is not yet clear," Benítez admits. "Fernando seems fine to me but he still needs to see his specialist and he has been unable to do so. There are a lot of things going on at the moment, it is normal for the end of a season but I am more worried about Torres and his injury than all the other things."

Benítez did not watch the three-way political debate last week and indeed says he would not waste his time with such things, yet he can evade a question better than many a parliamentarian – even the same question, posed about six times a week throughout the season. He is not going to talk of his future beyond Anfield, he is not going to disparage the outgoing American owners or speculate how much he would like any new buyers to make available for transfer purposes. He has played these games before and always the answer is the same. The important thing is to prepare the team for the next game.

Only one thing is certain, whether or not this turns out to be Benítez's last season at Anfield. He would like it to have an upbeat ending and the Europa League represents Liverpool's only chance of getting their hands on silverware. It may not be everyone's idea of success, and the very fact that Liverpool qualified by virtue of failing in the Champions League taints it in many people's eyes, yet no other European trophy can now be won by an English team and the two remaining domestic prizes could both end up at Chelsea.

So the trip to the Vicente Calderón is more than just an emotional return for Torres, should he play. It could be a chance to be one of only three Premier League clubs with a trophy to wave at the end of the season and, after the sort of season Liverpool have had, that has to count as an incentive. There is also, tantalisingly, a growing realisation that in the general scheme of things, winning the Europa League probably amounts to more than winning the Carling Cup, if that is all Manchester United end up with.

"The Europa League is a massive trophy," Benítez says, possibly overstating the case slightly. "When you look at the teams involved, just the teams still involved even, they are important teams, teams who could be in the Champions League." This may come as news to Fulham but one can see Benítez's point. Should Liverpool get past Lille, Benfica and Atlético Madrid home and away to reach the final, it will at least be comparable with United's route to Wembley that pitted them against Wolves, Barnsley, Spurs and Manchester City.

"We always try to win a trophy each season at this club. Sometimes it is not possible to achieve that, and you must accept it, but when you have a chance to win a trophy you should go for it."

Many were expecting Benítez, rather than Torres, to be facing his former club at the semi-final stage, though for the Liverpool manager it was no surprise that Atlético, in 10th place in La Liga, raised their game to knock out third-placed Valencia.

"Atlético are a good team, they have very good players but they are a little bit inconsistent," Benítez says. "They are out of the league so they have been focusing on the cups. Sometimes they can play really well – they have reached the final of the Spanish Cup – for instance, but they can also lose to Xerez, at the bottom, as they did this week. Maybe they lose concentration, or perhaps they know they cannot achieve anything in the league now and save their best performances for the cups. We won't be underestimating them, not with Fernando Torres and Maxi Rodríguez in our side. We know Atlético really well."