Life has rarely been straightforward for Rafael BenÍtez of late, but he headed back to Merseyside in high spirits last night after Liverpool secured their place in the Champions League knock-out stages with a resounding 4-0 victory away to Marseilles. With George Gillett Jr, one of the club’s American owners, in attendance, BenÍtez will feel he has at least denied the board a flimsy excuse to terminate his reign.

The result will alleviate some of the pressure on BenÍtez before the Barclays Premier League match against Manchester United on Sunday and, perhaps more critically, a meeting with Gillett and Tom Hicks, the co-chairmen. Despite his recent criticism of the club’s transfer policy, BenÍtez will surely be given the opportunity to remain at the helm, even if sources continue to indicate that his position looks untenable in the long term.

BenÍtez, though, has already proved adept at fighting back from the brink. Liverpool seemed down and out in group A after taking a solitary point from their first three games, but after beating Besiktas 8-0 and FC Porto 4-1, they finished the job last night in the intimidating Stade Vélodrome, where missiles were thrown at Steven Gerrard as he took an early corner.

Gerrard, on the rebound after his penalty kick was saved, Fernando Torres, with a fine solo effort, Dirk Kuyt and Ryan Babel scored the goals that added gloss to a resolute and highly impressive performance.

“I’m really proud to be manager of this club,” BenÍtez said. “The performance was really good, almost perfect. You could talk about individuals, the performance of Gerrard or the goal of Torres, but really it was a team performance and now we are thinking about the next game.”

Before United’s visit to Anfield there is the meeting with Hicks and Gillett, at which BenÍtez hopes not only to secure his position for the immediate future but also to receive the owners’ financial backing in next month’s transfer window. “The match and the meeting are two different things,” he said. “As manager, you must try to do your job. It is simple. I want to win, the supporters want to win, everyone wants to win. It’s just a case of how we do it.”

The only disappointment for Liverpool was that, with Porto beating Besiktas 2-0, they did not win their group. As a result, they will face one of a powerful quartet - AC Milan, Inter Milan, Barcelona or Real Madrid – in the last 16, or possibly Seville if they are not beaten to first place by Arsenal in group H this evening.

“We made it difficult for ourselves in this group,” Gerrard said. “We needed a big performance, full of character and hard work. From a player’s point of view we concentrate on our jobs on the pitch – whatever the situation is between the manager and the owners is up to them.”

Chelsea, who had already won group B, were held to a goalless draw by Valencia at Stamford Bridge.