Rafael Benitez has warned his faltering Liverpool stars that nothing short of a perfect finish to the season will do if he is to make good his promise of delivering Champions League football to Anfield.

Failure to make it into the lucrative competition would be potentially disastrous for American owners George Gillett and Tom Hicks as they continue their attempts to find fresh investment in the club which will enable them to mount a serious challenge to Manchester United and Chelsea next season.

Qualifying for Europe’s premier club competition is also vital if they want to attract new players and retain the services of Fernando Torres and Steven Gerrard, as well as Benitez himself, who remains on the wanted list of Real Madrid and Juventus.

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Just when Rafa Benitez thought things couldn’t get worse for Liverpool, he is now facing the prospect of being withou his star players Fernando Torres and Steven Gerrard.

The pain felt around Anfield following on Wednesday’s shock extra-time FA Cup defeat by second division Reading, was compounded Thursday by news that Torres, Gerrard and Yossi Benayoun had all sustained injuries during the 2-1 extra-time loss.

Torres, who lasted barely half an hour at Anfield, faces the longest lay-off of the trio.

The Spain striker is set to be sidelined for six weeks with a knee injury while inspirational club captain Gerrard, substituted at half-time, is expected to be out for a fortnight with a hamstring injury.

Meanwhile, Israeli playmaker Benayoun – one of Liverpool’s better players in a terrible season so far for the Merseysiders – sustained a fractured rib against Reading and could be unavailable for at least a month.

Torres is to undergo an operation but England midfielder Gerrard may not need surgery.

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Liverpool manager Rafa Benitez admits he has plenty of thinking to do after an already troubled season took another turn for the worse with a 3-1 defeat by Fulham here at Craven Cottage.

Saturday’s setback was Liverpool’s fifth reverse in just 11 Premier League fixtures and they trail leaders Chelsea by nine points, with champions Manchester United, Arsenal and Tottenham all ahead of them in the table.

Benitez also has Champions League qualification to secure and cannot afford another defeat on Wednesday away to French club Lyon, who earlier in the competition won 2-1 at Anfield.

Steven Gerrard and Fernando Torres, the undisputed top talents in his squad, are both struggling for fitness so Benitez is not short of problems.

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Xabi Alonso decided to exit Liverpool when the club tried to sell him last summer.

The Spaniard spent five successful seasons at Anfield before leaving for Real Madrid in a £30million move this summer.

However Reds manager Rafa Benitez tried to offload the 27-year-old 12 months ago to raise money for prospective signings, in particular Gareth Barry.

At the time the former Real Sociedad ace had struggled for form making just 16 Premier League starts in 2007/08 but an outstanding campaign last time out saw Real lodge their interest.

Despite handing in a transfer request in July ,Alonso admitted that he had decided to leave the club after they had tried to sell him against his wishes a year previous.

“It was a very difficult decision for me to make,” he told Sky Sports News.

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Rafa Benitez says Liverpool would need a near-perfect season to take home the English Premier League title.

Liverpool finished second last term after amassing a club record 86 points in the Premier League, but the Anfield faithful will want to go one better this time around.

The Reds are desperate to end their 20-year wait for the championship crown and Benitez believes his squad is strong enough to beat any of their rivals, but concedes there is still room for improvement.

“You have to do everything almost perfectly because in the Premier League you cannot lose many games,” Benitez told the Liverpool Echo.

“You need a good atmosphere, and we have a good squad now.

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Liverpool manager Rafa Benitez have insisted that Fernando Torres and Xabi Alonso will be fit for the last three Premier League matches to keep up the pressureon Manchester United.

Torres, who has scored 16 times for his club this season, missed Sunday’s 3-0 victory over Newcastle after suffering a hamstring problem in training on the eve of the Anfield match.

His compatriot Alonso did start but was forced off after falling victim to a shocking challenge by Newcastle’s Liverpool-born midfielder Joey Barton which saw him sent off.

Alonso left the pitch on a stretcher but Benitez played down fears that the midfielder will miss the final three matches of the season.

He also insisted Torres could have featured on the substitutes bench but decided not to gamble his fitness at such a crucial stage in the season.

“Torres had a problem with his hamstring and in the end we decided to leave him out of the squad,” said Benitez, after goals by Yossi Benayoun, Dirk Kuyt and Lucas halved United’s lead at the top of the table to three points.

“We had to decide whether to put him on the bench because to start with him would have been very dangerous.

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Rafael Benitez will call upon his troops to redo the miracle against AC Milan in Istanbul in 2005 when they face Chelsea tonight in the second leg of the quarter final at Stamford Bridge.

Benitez’s side trail 3-1 from the first leg at Anfield last week and need an heroic peformance in west London to reach the semifinals.

History is against Liverpool, who have never won away from home in Europe against an English team and have not scored three goals at Stamford Bridge since 1989 when they won 5-2.

As if that wasn’t enough to discourage Liverpool, they will also have to become the first team to score three times at the Bridge in a European match.

But Liverpool are no strangers to European miracles under Benitez. Their most famous comeback was in the 2005 Champions League final against AC Milan when they fought back from 3-0 down to beat the Italian team on penalties.

Liverpool have already won 1-0 at Chelsea this season, while Bolton scored three times in their defeat there on Saturday and Benitez believes the Reds can produce another Istanbul-style revival on Tuesday.

“The experience of Istanbul will help us, it shows you can come back from a big score. And it is important to realise that Bolton scored three there on Saturday, anything can happen,” Benitez said on Monday.

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