The Liverpool manager was intent on rebuilding his Champions League finalists irrespective of the result in Athens, as he did in the aftermath of triumph in Istanbul in 2005, but there was a clear warning from the Spaniard to George Gillett and Tom Hicks last night as he blamed a lack of high-calibre signings for his team's inability to script another rich chapter in their European history.
Benitez pulled no punches on the future direction of Liverpool despite a performance that comfortably surpassed that of 2005 and established the Anfield club as the dominant force in Greece until Filippo Inzaghi deflected a free-kick beyond Jose Reina on the stroke of half-time. "When you win you're really happy and when you lose, you are disappointed for sure but you need to work out why," said Liverpool's manager.
"Then you start thinking about the future. When you see the quality of players Milan have, we have to think about improving. My first idea is to support my players who worked really hard and did their best tonight. Afterwards, you need to think about the future. We know we need to improve and we must. Maybe, if we do, we can be contenders. But we need to take more than one step at a time."
When pressed on the revenue he is expecting from the Americans this summer, Benitez added: "I hope [we get the backing]. It is not easy to achieve more things than we have. If we want to be closer to Manchester United or Chelsea in the Premier League and get this far in the Champions League, we may need to take two steps at a time. You cannot change a team in one or two weeks. It's about doing that in time. You could see the difference in quality tonight."
The Liverpool manager was visibly incensed by the lack of stoppage time at the end of the final, referee Herbert Fandel blowing after two minutes and 45 seconds of an allocated three minutes as Benitez's side pressed for a dramatic equaliser, but he refused to make excuses on a night when his team contributed to their own downfall with wasted chances and poor defending.
Benitez admitted: "The referee said three minutes and didn't play them but I don't want to say anything about that. It's clear. It could have given us more momentum at a crucial time, but I don't want to use it as an excuse. At the end of the day, you need to score goals in 90 minutes. We had some chances in the first half. We were controlling almost everything. They crossed two or three times ... but you need to take your chances and score goals.
"I want to say congratulations for Milan, who are a very good team, and thank you [to our] supporters, staff and players. They deserved a little bit more. We controlled the game in the first half, but conceded a bad goal, a deflection, at the end of that half. The problem with that kind of goal is that you need to start the second half with a new idea.
"When we didn't have fresh legs, we started giving them space and time and with the quality of Milan's players they only need one opportunity and they will kill you."
The Liverpool manager's assessment was shared by his captain, Steven Gerrard, one of those who did not seize opportunities to deliver a second European Cup in three seasons to Anfield. "My emotions are completely opposite to two years ago," he said. "It is difficult to take, but that's football. You have to take it on the chin and try and move on, pick yourself up, but at the moment it is heartbreaking. We started well and were in control... but you have to score. They got the first goal instead with a bit of luck, and it lifted them. We gave everything, but it wasn't to be."
For Carlo Ancelotti, coach of a Milan side expelled from the Champions League at the start of this season, the victory was, he claimed, the finest in the Rossoneri's venerable history. "It was a very difficult game, much more difficult than we expected it to be, but it is the greatest victory we have had at Milan. Few people believed we could do it this season but what we have achieved is extraordinary, a utopia."
Inzaghi, scorer of both Milan goals, also claimed: "We rehearse that free-kick routine in training. I scored an identical one against Empoli last year."