"It is always good to be able to bring on local youngsters, produced by the club," said Benitez.
"And Stephen Darby, Jay Spearing and Martin Kelly all did well on their European debuts.
"Everything went right and I was delighted with the overall performance. There were plenty of positives for the club and its future.
"We wanted to win the group to make sure we had the second leg of the next round at Anfield. Once we had got level we were always a threat."