Benitez back against wall
Rarely has Rafael Benitez played a more dangerous game.
In his three-and-a-half years at Anfield the Liverpool manager has experimented with formations and obsessed about rotation, so much so that trying to second-guess his starting 11 is as pointless as howling at the moon.
But he has never tampered with tradition quite as he did on Saturday when he hauled off Fernando Torres, Steven Gerrard and Jamie Carragher in the last half-hour of the 3-1 defeat at Reading and ostensibly accepted defeat.
Yes, accepted defeat. Threw in the towel. Effectively surrendered. Not phrases Liverpool have been familiar with down the years. Not a concept supporters of a club built on the fire and passion of Bill Shankly could readily embrace.
It is why this week is so crucial to the credibility of Benitez.
Beat Marseille in the Stade Velodrome tomorrow and progress to the knockout phase of the Champions League and his actions will be seen as the astute decisions of a footballing pragmatist protecting his key players for the most important battles.
Lose and Sunday's encounter against Manchester United at Anfield becomes the cross on which the Benitez reign might be nailed.
So far Liverpool's success in Europe, two Champions League finals, including that momentous night in Istanbul in 2005, deservedly has shielded Benitez.
Two weeks ago before the match against Porto around 2000 fans, bearing Benitez's picture, marched in a show of solidarity for their leader following his spat with American owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett.
Most supporters appreciate the memories Benitez has provided. They connect with his attempts to move the club forward. They see the squad is deeper and quality improved, even if real consistency remains elusive. They doubtless support his moans for more transfer funds in the January window despite the £50million which the new owners supplied in the summer.
But they also ache for the times when Liverpool were the standard bearers for English football, for the days when they looked down on United and Arsenal and the rest from the pinnacle of the domestic game.
It is 17 years since Liverpool won the last of their 18 league titles. Currently they stand seven points behind Arsenal, six behind United and four adrift of Chelsea and although a game in hand could reduce those arrears the feeling persists that they remain off the pace.
Too far off to be surrendering points in the manner of their weekend defeat, even if striker Peter Crouch described it as a "blip".
It was nothing of the sort. It was a declaration from Benitez that Europe remains the priority and with around £10million at stake if Liverpool fall into the UEFA Cup, something which would delight Evertonians already relishing that competition, the maths add up.
Champions League progression is the least Benitez requires to appease Hicks and Gillett.
Football supporters, however, are not renowned for evaluating numbers in their heads. It is what is in their hearts that matters.
So they will sing 'Ring of Fire', the Johnny Cash anthem forever associated with the comeback in Istanbul, in Marseille and hope that Benitez can orchestrate another night of European genius.
And then they will troop to Anfield on Sunday for the real measure of where Liverpool stand on the stairway to domestic greatness in the fixture which history maintains is the most tribal battle in English football.
If by then they are in the UEFA Cup, despite the recent wave of support you can be sure Anfield will be a theatre of doubt.
Has Benitez overdone caution, underused Crouch, failed to impose clear direction or forged a consistent pattern of play?
Most of all, has he jettisoned the traditions of Shankly in the pursuit of pragmatism?
If the answers to those questions are yes, then wilful surrender at Reading almost certainly will return to haunt Benitez.
Gerrard: Reds won't waste Euro chance
Steven Gerrard is determined not to waste Liverpool's chance of making Champions League progress in Marseille on Tuesday night.
The Reds' prospects of reaching the last 16 looked bleak after a home defeat to the French side and another loss away to Besiktas, but since then they have stormed back with high-scoring victories over Besiktas and Porto at Anfield and know a win at the Stade Velodrome will be enough to reach the knockout stages.
Gerrard is grateful that the team's fate is back in their own hands and said: "If you'd told me five minutes after the final whistle against Marseille at Anfield we would go into the last game knowing a win would secure our qualification, I would have bitten your hand off at that offer."
He added: "It was even worse when we lost to Besiktas. We knew then we had a real uphill struggle, but after our recent performances in the competition we know it's up to ourselves again. We're a different side and a lot more confident than the one which lost to Marseille at home."
The Reds were in a similar position in the group phase in the 2004-05 campaign, which ended with that famous final triumph in Istanbul. Back then, they needed to score three goals against Greek side Olympiacos and achieved it thanks to a Gerrard thunderbolt into the goal at the Kop end in a 3-1 win.
Gerrard told the club's official website www.liverpoolfc.tv: "Everyone remembers Olympiacos, so our experiences in the past will help. The big difference this time is we're not at home, so that's going to make it tougher, but we're playing good football, winning games and scoring goals.
"The pressure will be on Marseille as much as us this time. We know we're always expected to go through to the knockout stage, but after they beat us at Anfield and we lost in Turkey, we weren't favourites to qualify.
"They must have hoped we would be out of it by now and they would already be through, but fortunately it hasn't turned out that way.
"For them not to be sure of going through after already beating us once must worry them, so we've got to take advantage of the chance we've given ourselves."
Liverpool v. Marseille: Key Match-ups
Liverpool travel to the fearsome Stade Velodrome knowing anything needing a victory to continue their Champions League campaign.
Here, PA Sport assesses some of the personal duels likely to decide the outcome.
FERNANDO TORRES v GAEL GIVET
Torres has wasted no time in becoming the most popular striker at Anfield since Robbie Fowler. His £20million-plus price tag when he signed from Atletico Madrid in the summer guaranteed instant pressure - but he has responded with a series of outstanding performances. Pacy, strong, skilful and a classy finisher, the 23-year-old appears poised to become of one of Europe's leading marksmen.
Givet made his name alongside the likes of Patrice Evra and Sebastien Squillaci at Monaco before signing for Marseille in the close season. He is considered one of the best defenders in the French league and has 12 caps for France.
STEVEN GERRARD v BOUDEWIJN ZENDEN
Alongside Torres, Gerrard is Liverpool's main source of attacking threat. Unafraid of a tackle, the 'Huyton Hammer' is the driving force in just about all areas of the pitch - as likely to be seen spraying a 50-yard pass from his own half as darting on to a knock-down by one of the Reds' frontmen. If Liverpool are to win, Gerrard must be firing on all cylinders.
Should Gerrard be employed on the right he will come face to face with former team-mate Zenden. The Dutchman was a disappointment on Merseyside where injuries and indifferent form scuppered his stay. Has struggled to live up to the early promise of his career in Holland but is still capable of turning a game with a piece of eye-catching skill. Just ask Middlesbrough fans.
JAMIE CARRAGHER v MAMADOU NIANG
Strong, committed, unfussy and, most importantly, Scouse, centre-half Carragher is the quintessential fans' favourite. He is not a bad defender, either, and has been one of the Champions League's most consistent performers since the arrival of Rafael Benitez in 2004. A lack of genuine pace is his solitary flaw.
Senegal striker Niang is rumoured to have caught the eye of several Premier League scouts with his performances for Marseille since joining in 2005. Pacy and strong, he is likely to be a useful outlet for the home side if they come under concerted pressure.
MANAGERS
Eric Gerets, Marseille's 15th different manager in the past 10 years, steered the French club to a shock victory at Anfield in his first game in charge. Despite taking his team to the brink of qualification for the knockout stages, their league campaign has largely been a struggle against relegation, although their fortunes have improved of late. Won the competition as a player with PSV Eindhoven in 1988.
Rafael Benitez won the Champions League in 2005 in his first season at Anfield and also guided the Reds to last term's final. Spent heavily in the summer on the likes of Fernando Torres and Ryan Babel and appears to have transformed the Merseysiders into title contenders after years spent trailing in the wake of Manchester United, Arsenal and Chelsea. He is still forced to counter almost constant criticism of his 'rotation' policy.
PAST MEETINGS
The sides last met in the UEFA Cup fourth round in 2003-04, when the French side prevailed 3-2 on aggregate. A certain Didier Drogba scored in both legs for Marseille. Steven Gerrard, Jamie Carragher, Sami Hyypia and John Arne Riise all featured for Liverpool but Marseille have no survivors. They do, however, have two former Liverpool players in Djibril Cisse and Boudewijn Zenden. Their clash at Anfield on October 3 ended in a 1-0 win to the French club, as Mathieu Valbuena's long-range strike punished an inept display from the hosts.
EUROPEAN PEDIGREE
Marseille won the Champions League in its first season in 1993 but times have changed considerably since then with the club demoted due to financial irregularities.
Five-time European Cup winners Liverpool are competing in the group stages for the sixth time.
FORM
Marseille won just one of their opening nine matches in Ligue 1, a record which cost manager Albert Emon his job. Gerets has improved their form dramatically and victory over Monaco on Saturday made it five league games without defeat. They opened their Champions League campaign with two straight wins but have not tasted victory in three matches since.
Liverpool's form in Group A has been almost the exact opposite. After taking a solitary point from the first three games, thumping wins over Besiktas and Porto, in which the Reds scored 12 times, have put them back in contention. They were also going well in the Premier League until Saturday's shock defeat by Reading - their first reverse in nine in all competitions.
