Pepe Reina Urges Liverpool To Repeat Portsmouth Performance Against Lille And Manchester United
Goalkeeper hoping to maintain momentum through important week...
By Gill Clark
The Merseysiders brushed Pompey aside at Anfield courtesy of a Fernando Torres brace as well as goals by Ryan Babel and a first in English football for Alberto Aquilani.
Speaking to ESPN after the game, the Spaniard paid tribute to Liverpool’s display, in particular the six minutes spell in the first half when the Reds scored three times.
“Tonight was a must-win game for us, fortunately we did it, we performed really well and let’s hope we can do it on Thursday [against Lille in the Europa League] again,” he said.
“When the team is playing well you know we can score at any minute. It was a good period of time, we were incredible what we have to do is make sure we repeat that on Thursday and Sunday.”
The shot-stopper also confessed that Liverpool have fully deserved the criticism that has come their way this season but insisted they remain a quality side.
“We deserved some criticism, obviously things aren’t going the way we want,” he added.
“We know that the squad is more or less the same as last season. We can perform, we can play good football, we have to prove it.”
Goalscorer Alberto Aquilani bagged the man of the match champagne, on a rare start for the Merseysiders, and admitted he was delighted to grab his first goal for the club, adding: “I am very happy today because we won the game. We need to win a lot of games to get in the top four and this is the first.”
Hosted by Stephen Crawford & Adam Scime
We've had two tremendous matches today, so lets hope the intensity keeps up in the next clashes!
Until next time, this is LIVE commentator Stephen Crawford signing off.
From everyone here at Goal.com, thanks for joining us!
Here's the thoughts of Benfica coach Jorge Jesus, who felt his side deserved a point from the game.
"They were the better team on the night and that's the story of the day.
"We have to keep fighting, pick ourselves up, get the confidence back and challenge in the other competitions and in the second leg of this tie too.
"They punished us on every occasion; they scored some quality goals and they deserved to win."
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“The score made it look like it was an easy game, but it certainly wasn't.
(Strange... it looked pretty easy from where I was sitting, but hey.)
“I do not think it's over yet. I remember a clash between Milan and Deportivo la Coruna when Milan was also ahead by four goals, and in the end Deportivo eliminated Milan.
“I went into the Arsenal dressing room after the match to speak to Robin van Persie. I had agreed with him to swap shirts – my sons are big fans of his and he brought two for them. They will be delighted.
Van Bommel went on to talk about a possible move to PSV in the future, but was quick to point out his terms for the move.
“I've spoken with PSV, but we don't have an agreement yet. The club has to decide what they want.
“If Louis van Gaal turns out to be the new coach, I won't go.”
"Tonight everything went in the right direction and we did a very good match. You don't start a match thinking to win 4-0, but at the end i think we deserved it coz we played very well."
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