Graphic: Liverpool v FC Porto

Having endured a couple of sleepless nights of late, Rafael Benítez dared to dream yesterday. Asked to imagine a scenario in which he would emerge intact from the civil war at Anfield to lead his team out at the Champions League final in Moscow on May 21, the Liverpool manager smiled and uttered a typical “for sure” before snapping out of his reverie and returning to the nightmare that has consumed the club over the past week.

Benítez knows that he has done too much talking recently, particularly where it comes to his troubled relationship with Tom Hicks and George Gillett Jr, the club’s American owners. He also knows that, by challenging their authority and questioning their knowledge of the European transfer market, he has all but talked himself out of a job.

The last thing he needed yesterday, before this evening’s crucial Champions League match at home to FC Porto, was to fan the flames further, so he side-stepped the issue in the knowledge that it was time to stop talking and leave his team to speak on his behalf.

At the start of his press conference at Anfield, Benítez made a short statement to say that he would prefer to talk about this evening’s match than to be dragged into discussing his position or the political unrest at the club. “If I talk about the other things, then people will talk about them and I don’t want any distractions — only to concentrate on this game,” he said. “I know how important the game is, so I would prefer to concentrate on that.”

And it is important. Very important. The likelihood remains that, unless his relations with Hicks and Gillett improve dramatically, Benítez will be dismissed for non-football reasons. Failure to beat Porto, combined with a victory for Marseilles away to Besiktas this evening, would result in Liverpool being eliminated from the Champions League at the group stage even if they win away to Marseilles in their final game. In the eyes of a cynic, that would offer the board the chance to dismiss him for what they call football reasons, even while his team remain unbeaten after 13 matches in the Barclays Premier League.

Whatever is happening behind the scenes, Benítez has no doubt that progress is being made on the pitch. “In my opinion, the team is showing every game that we are progressing and improving,” the manager said. “In the last games we scored eight against Besiktas, two against Fulham and three against Newcastle while not conceding. Everybody can see that we started the season playing well and then had some problems, but we are playing well again now.

“I have confidence we will go through. This team is much better and the squad is much better than before. We will keep trying to win all the games all the way to the final.”

That is a long-term outlook that is unseemly, given that nobody at Anfield is able to guarantee that Benítez will be in charge next week, but it is also the type of talk that can have the effect of rallying a team behind their manager.

José Manuel Reina, one of the most ardent Benítez loyalists in the dressing-room, suggested as much yesterday. “Our commitment for the manager is really deep,” the goalkeeper said. “We’re absolutely sure that Rafa is doing a brilliant job here and has been for four seasons. We must win against Porto to progress in the tournament and also to make people believe in us even more.”

It was put to Reina that it must be impossible for him and his team-mates to avoid feeling distracted by what Steven Gerrard, the captain, called “stuff going on behind the scenes”, but the goalkeeper suggested otherwise. “Yes it’s possible \,” Reina said. “What else can you do? You’re a footballer and you don’t decide anything. We just have to look for ourselves as a team, and that means winning.”

Key clash

Javier Mascherano v Lucho González

— Beyond the obvious need to attack tonight, Liverpool must not lose sight of the danger of leaving themselves exposed to the counter-attack. That is where Mascherano comes in. The Argentinian was rested for the 3-0 win over Newcastle United on Saturday, but he is certain to return this evening to form a protective shield in front of the back four while Steven Gerrard rampages forward. In particular he will be asked to contain the threat of Lucho González, his Argentina teammate, who was outstanding when the teams met in Oporto in September

Referee: R Rosetti (Italy)

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