Rafa stunned by late strike

Liverpool boss hits out at referee after Chelsea draw

By Lewis Rutledge   Last updated: 23rd April 2008

Rafa Benitez Champions League Football Chelsea

Benitez: Not happy

Related links

Teams

Also see

Rafa Benitez criticised the performance of the referee following Liverpool's 1-1 draw with Chelsea.

The Reds took the lead in the first leg of their UEFA Champions League semi-final through Dirk Kuyt and had chances to extend their advantage.

However, John Arne Riise scored an own goal deep into stoppage time to give Chelsea a crucial away goal to take back to Stamford Bridge next week.

Benitez does not believe Liverpool were helped by official Konrad Plautz, insisting that most of the decisions went in Chelsea's favour.

The Liverpool boss was also puzzled by the amount of injury time that was played.

"It was difficult to understand," Benitez said on Sky Sports News.

"It was maybe 94 or 95 minutes and I was surprised it was not a free-kick or corner because it was always against us, all the free-kicks and corners."

Disappointing

Asked if he was unhappy with the referee, Benitez added: "Yes, and it's not the first time, it's really disappointing.

"We knew what to expect because we'd had him before against Marseille, but you can't blame the referee for the own goal.

"He gave just one minute of injury time in the first half and four minutes in the second half. I don't know exactly but I think it was five minutes (when Riise scored the own goal). It is difficult to explain."

Positive

Turning his focus to the second leg at Chelsea, Benitez admitted the onus would be on Liverpool to force the issue.

He added: "In the end it was an own goal and I was really disappointed. We have 90 minutes and we need to go there to win.

"We must now be positive and clear our minds. If we play like that at Stamford Bridge next week and take those chances, we will go through.

"We have confidence in ourselves. I am confident we can do it, I will recall the first 20 minutes of the second period when we were very much on top of Chelsea. If we can do that again at Stamford Bridge, we can still get to the final."