Liverpool are at breaking point

Andy Mitten, Spanish Football Correspondent

• Last Updated: November 03. 2009 10:13PM UAE / November 3. 2009 6:13PM GMT

Spaniards do not usually go for foreign clubs. They respect the finest teams and traditions, but would never extend that to support as they have enough glamour in their own country. But many do take more than a passing interests in the fortunes of Liverpool.

Viewing figures for Liverpool’s Champions League games are regularly far in excess of the other English giants because Liverpool have a Spanish manager and three Spanish international players: the striker Fernando Torres, goalkeeper Pepe Reina and winger Albert Riera.

If manager Rafa Benitez had his way, he would still have Xabi Alonso and Alvaro Arbeloa, but those two both had their heads turned by offers to join Real Madrid in the summer. The pair maintained that their experience playing in England had made them better footballers and people.

Last summer, Liverpool had close to half of the brilliant Spanish national team and moving to the banks of the Mersey has become a familiar path for many Spanish players – the prolific former Real striker Fernando Morientes also played at Liverpool, though without the distinction of others.

Spanish fans also follow defen-der Fabio Aurelio, a long-time servant of Valencia, the club which Benitez managed with great success between 2001 and 2004, breaking the Barca-Madrid duopoly as he led Los Che to two league titles, one combined with winning the Uefa Cup. It was the dual achievement of domestic and European success at a major club which attracted Liverpool.

Benitez had fallen out with several Valencia directors and was happy to depart in 2004. A year later his Liverpool side were European champions and despite being unable to deliver the English league championship since 1990 and end Liverpool’s exhaustive wait for a 19th title, his stock has remained high at Anfield, chiefly for his honesty with fans – a quality they feel deprived of by their American owners who have broken several promises.

On the footballing side, Benitez has retained the art he mastered at Valencia of competing with the biggest clubs despite having a significantly smaller budget.

Benitez is, however, currently suffering his first genuine managerial crisis at Liverpool. Had he been at Madrid, a club who have courted him several times, he would have been dismissed already, but while Liverpool are more patient, such a virtue is not finite.

Liverpool have lost five of their last six competitive matches ahead of tonight’s crucial Champions League Group E game at group leaders Lyon. The French side won 2-1 at Anfield a fortnight ago and lead the group with three straight wins ahead of Fiorentina and Liverpool who sit third with just one win from their three games so far.

Failure to progress beyond the group stages would be a major blow for a Liverpool side who have compensated for their domestic deficiencies by excelling in Europe’s top competition.

It is not only Liverpool’s poor form which makes Lyon confident of preventing Liverpool’s fifth straight win on French soil. Benitez’s besieged side have a serious injury list and they were rocked by the news that Fernando Torres is nursing a hernia problem which may require surgery and keep him out for one month. He is likely to play on through the pain, but Benitez’s problems are not confined to his compatriot.

Captain Steven Gerrard has been struggling with an injury and hasn’t travelled to Lyon, while Riera has a hamstring injury and Martin Kelly an ankle problem which will keep them out. Glen Johnson (calf), Daniel Agger (back), Aurelio (calf) and David Ngog (ankle) will all undergo late fitness tests.

Anything but a victory for Liverpool would leave their Champions League aspirations hanging by a thread. They will be watching closely in Spain.

amitten@thenational.ae

Lyon v Liverpool, KO 11.45pm, Aljazeera Sport + 4