SOCCER - UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE PREVIEW Liverpool (1) v Arsenal (1):DELIRIUM OR despair awaits Anfield tonight but Rafael Benitez has insisted his Liverpool reign cannot be judged on the Champions League quarter-final with Arsenal. In an appeal for reason from the club's owners yesterday, the manager claimed his long-term plan would reap further reward regardless of the outcome against Arsène Wenger's team.

Liverpool may hold a slender advantage in the second leg, courtesy of Dirk Kuyt's away goal at the Emirates Stadium last Wednesday, but it is Wenger who retains the unswerving faith of his boardroom despite the prospect of a third trophyless season.

By contrast Benitez is planning for next season against a backdrop of uncertainty, with Tom Hicks, George Gillett and Dubai International Capital all vying for control of Liverpool and only Hicks a confirmed supporter of the Spaniard.

Having been roundly criticised for another disappointing league campaign, Benitez wants another Champions League success to help him develop a winning mentality at Anfield, but he does not regard victory tonight as essential to the overall success of his reign.

"It is not easy when you talk about the Champions League and the money involved to be calm and to see the bigger picture, but as a professional you need to know it is not just one game that determines the idea and the future," the Liverpool manager said.

"You need to have a long-term idea. That is quite important. To be here (in the quarter-finals) means we are doing something well and it shows we are going in the right direction.

"We need to be more consistent in the Premier League but now the team is ready to play for another big trophy, and I am not the kind of manager who will change his opinion on the basis of one game.

"As a manager you must be consistent in your plan. If you look at the young players coming through and our record over the last four years in the Champions League you must see we are going in the right direction, and one game will not change my idea on that.

"If we beat Arsenal it will be easier, because everyone will agree you are going the right way, but if we lose they will say it's not the right way. What is important as a manager is that you keep to your plan for the future."

Benitez accepts both he and Wenger are under pressure but has emphasised his appetite for victory, whetted by 20 years in the employ of Real Madrid.

"I am under pressure because I want to win a trophy, not to prove to people we are doing the right thing," he stated. "It is normal, after a lot of years competing for trophies. I was 10 years as a player and 10 years as a coach in the Real Madrid system and to finish second is not enough. So I have this mentality, it's my background.

"It is why I like to play these kind of games. Ask my wife what kind of loser I am. She always says I never let the children (Claudia and Agatha) win at anything. Sometimes I might let the little one win but not the older one."

The Liverpool manager dismissed the idea that Arsenal's relative youth was a disadvantage.

"I don't agree with this," he said. "Manuel Almunia is not young, Kolo Toure is not young, Emmanuel Adebayor is not young, Alexander Hleb is not young. You can talk about Theo Walcott but Cesc Fàbregas has played four years at the maximum level.

"Two or three years ago I could agree with that but not now. They were in the Champions League final two years ago and they have experience of playing in massive competitions."

Benitez is also wary of the favourites' mantle Liverpool acquired with their first-leg draw in north London and Kuyt's away goal.

"We are in a good moment but I have told the players to be careful. Arsenal usually score goals away.

"We need to win. I'm not thinking that 0-0 would be fantastic. At the end I might say 'fantastic' but we need to score and win."

Guardian Service