After the home defeat by Marseilles three weeks ago, this setback across the Bosphorus from where they lifted the European Cup in Istanbul in May 2005 had the air of a calamity as Marseilles and FC Porto last night drew 1-1 to cement their places at the top of group A. With Chelsea beating Schalke 04 2-0 at Stamford Bridge last night, on the back of Arsenal and Manchester United winning in such glorious fashion on Tuesday, Liverpool's despair was all the more tangible.
Steven Gerrard, given centre stage as BenÍtez placed his trust in his captain, scored six minutes from time with a brave diving header but this time, unlike in that glorious final against AC Milan at the Atatürk Stadium, it did not prompt a memorable comeback.
Liverpool, unbeaten in the Barclays Premier League as they take on Arsenal, the leaders, at Anfield on Sunday, are bottom of their section with one point from the first three games. BenÍtez accepts that his team need to win their remaining group matches, starting against Besiktas at Anfield on November 6, and then hope for the best.
"It is difficult," he said. "We know we need to win the three games and see what happens. We need to think about that and then crunch the numbers." BenÍtez praised his players' performance, citing statistics that reflected a dominance not matched by penetration. "There's no explanation," he said. "When you have 28 attempts, away from home, and you cannot win, you can hope for better. It's bad luck.
"Everyone could see the game today. We had 56 per cent of possession, away - we can't do anything else. In the first 12 minutes we have three chances and in the thirteenth minute they score. After that we were trying to do everything."
The 600 travelling Liverpool fans sangYou'll Never Walk Aloneafter the final whistle to mass applause from the home supporters who had seen Sami Hyypia put through his own goal before Bobo scored a decisive second in the 82nd minute when Liverpool were launching an all-out assault.
"We knew before this game we needed to win," BenÍtez said. "Now it is more clear: we have to win every game. I am pleased with the team's performance. I thought we created enough chances to win the game." Liverpool have got off to their best start in the Premier League since 2002-03, the last time they were knocked out of the Champions League group stage, but BenÍtez said that he did not feel under any more pressure. "This is the situation in football that can happen," he said. "You have to keep doing the right things and see what happens."
