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• Goalkeeper signs up for six more years at Anfield
• Rafael Benítez optimistic Liverpool can win race for fourth

Liverpool were given a fillip after defeating Benfica in the Europa League when their outstanding goalkeeper José Reina signed a new six-year contract at Anfield.

“It’s probably the best news of my life that I’ll be here for the next six years. Me and my family are really happy here,” the Spaniard, who joined from Villarreal in 2005, said. “To play for Liverpool is very special. I’ve been here for five years and now I will be here for six more and it’s very exciting. It’s very important that my family love it here as well, as family life is just as important as my career.

“My wife told me from the beginning she was more than happy here. My kids enjoy it and they have picked up the Scouse accent already. I am really proud of that. In the years ahead they will speak much more Scouse too.”

Reina will have a chance to re-establish the connection with his homeland when Liverpool take on Atlético Madrid in the semi-finals this month. Certainly, the efficient way they dispatched Benfica will have made sobering viewing for the watching Roberto Mancini whose Manchester City are hoping to secure fourth place in the Premier League ahead of Rafa Benítez’s side.

Liverpool have a tough game tomorrow when Fulham visit Anfield while they must play Chelsea on the penultimate weekend of the season. City are four points clear with a game in hand but with Birmingham City, Manchester United, Arsenal, Aston Villa and Tottenham to come for the world’s wealthiest club, Benítez believes the pendulum will swing back his way.

“He [Mancini] will have seen that our team is strong and he will know that they have to win their games too,” the Liverpool manager said. “I don’t know what City or Tottenham think but they are in a good position and if they lose it will be more through their own fault and that will put them under more pressure, especially if they make a mistake in their next one or two games.

“I think they will lose some points but the main thing is to do our job. Before the Birmingham game last week we were talking about six games, maybe drawing against Chelsea, and we will be there. So we have already had our draw and now we have to win all our games. If we can do this, I am confident we can be in the top four.”

Confidence is not a problem for Liverpool on home soil where, despite the trials of this campaign, require only six more goals to match the club’s best ever return at Anfield in the Premier League era, the 46 scored by Roy Evans’s team in 1995-96. But that does not disguise the flaws of a team that can lose insipidly at Wigan yet eclipse the Portuguese league leaders less than a month later.

“The question this year has been consistency,” Benítez said. “It is very clear that you need a good, big squad and then you can manage. After one international break, we had [Glen] Johnson, [Sotirios] Kyrgiakos, [Fernando] Torres and [Steven] Gerrard injured, [Fábio] Aurélio at the beginning too. When you have too many problems with starting players you need a bigger squad. The other day you could see [Nicolas] Anelka played and his substitute was [Didier] Drogba, so a massive difference, and on Wednesday you had [Wayne] Rooney and [Dimitar] Berbatov, a £32m player. So we have to do what we have to do but the length of the squad is important, especially in the league.”

Benítez’s frustration at the lack of investment at Liverpool was articulated again on the eve of the Benfica quarter-final, and he believes he does not have to spell it out to co-owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett, who were at Anfield on Thursday. “They know the situation and everyone knows we can improve,” he said. “I didn’t see them at the game. I found out they were here when I was in the dressing room and after I didn’t have time.”

As for Fulham, the Liverpool manager will again monitor the fitness of Fernando Torres before deciding on the striker’s involvement. “If we don’t play two games in a short time like we did last week [Benfica and then Birmingham] he will be fully fit and will have fresh legs,” Benítez said.

“It is important he is not weary. People say he cannot be tired because he has not played so many games, but if you play with 10 men for an hour and have to play again, everyone will be tired. [Javier] Mascherano and [Daniel] Agger were tired too. If Torres is fit he can be very, very dangerous and he can score goals like he did against Benfica. He can make a difference.”

LiverpoolRafael BenítezPremier LeagueAndy Hunterguardian.co.uk

Rafael Benítez has not taken Liverpool as far as he can after all. The semi-finals of the Europa League beckon for a manager approaching the end of his tether at Anfield’s financial mess after a night when both the nerves and Benfica’s 27-game unbeaten run were shredded. The added bonus was that both Tom Hicks and George Gillett, the Liverpool co-owners, were here as witnesses.

Fernando Torres’s sublime finish eight minutes from time lifted the tension that had been mounting inside Anfield from the moment Oscar Cardozo’s free-kick had given Benfica hope of replicating Bayern Munich’s recovery at Old Trafford 24 hours earlier. Unlike Manchester United, however, Liverpool held firm, and continued European adventure is their deserved reward.

While Jorge Jesus, the Benfica coach, had the luxury of rotating both his full-backs from the first meeting, Benítez was forced to deploy Daniel Agger as a makeshift left-back in the absence of the suspended Emiliano Insua and the injured Fabio Aurelio. The stop-gap would have caused greater concern had the Dane been required to stifle Angel Di María instead of the less threatening Ramires and, despite a start that stated a raucous Anfield held no fears for Benfica, Agger adapted comfortably as Liverpool’s defence prevented the visitors turning possession into chances.

For all the confidence and skill in a Benfica team unbeaten in 27 matches before this contest, they did not test José Reina once in the Liverpool goal until Oscar Cardozo’s low free-kick in the 38th minute. By that time, the hosts had taken command.

Liverpool sensibly elected for patience against a side renowned for its ability on the counter-attack and, in stark contrast to their opponents, began to find space in the Benfica defence to exploit. Fernando Torres, who appeared to sustain an early injury but played on regardless, headed a Steven Gerrard cross straight at the goalkeeper Julio Cesar but was adjudged offside by an assistant who was to show a suspect understanding of the rules of his employment when Liverpool grabbed the goal they needed to progress.

Yossi Benayoun won a corner on the Liverpool left and, from another Gerrard delivery, Dirk Kuyt reprised the routine that won the Merseyside derby against Everton here in February, standing in front of the goalkeeper, holding off all-comers, and heading into an unguarded net. Bizarrely the assistant flagged for offside and Kuyt’s celebrations were brought to an unceremonious halt as the Dutch referee, Bjorn Kuipers, enquired as to the reasons for disallowing the goal. Once he was informed why, and told his assistant the error of his ways, the jubilation could resume.

Anfield’s revelry rose another notch six minutes later when Lucas Leiva delivered a fine second goal that brought what many thought impossible – recognition from the Kop. Benayoun and Gerrard combined in central midfield and when the captain split Benfica’s central defence with a measured pass, the Brazilian broke clear of Sidnei, rounded the goalkeeper Cesar and rolled the ball home.

Benfica almost levelled the tie on aggregate on the stroke of half-time when Sidnei’s angled shot across goal deflected off both Lucas and Benayoun and somehow wide of the far post. Their increasing, understandable anxiety for a route back into the game, however, left the Portuguese league leaders vulnerable to a Liverpool break and they survived several scares before Torres delivered the cushion of a third.

It was a classic of the art, originating from a Benfica free-kick into the Liverpool penalty area and ending in the back of their net within seconds. Javier Mascherano led the charge out of defence, Benayoun was again involved as he drove at the visiting defence before finding Kuyt on the right, and when the Dutch forward struck a first time cross from the right, Torres, the focus of so much hysteria when substituted at Birmingham on Sunday, ghosted in at the back post to score. His second, exquisitely chipped over the substitute goalkeeper Moreira when sent clear by Mascherano, secured a memorable triumph.

Uefa Europa LeagueLiverpoolBenficaAndy Hunterguardian.co.uk

• Ryan Babel adamant Benfica dismissal was harsh but admits fault
• ‘A yellow card would have been fair enough’

The Liverpool forward Ryan Babel has admitted to being “stupid and silly” after his sending-off in last night’s 2-1 Europa League quarter-final first leg defeat to Benfica in Lisbon.

Having taken an early lead through Daniel Agger and watched the Portuguese league leaders waste numerous chances the match turned on the 30th-minute dismissal of Babel. The Holland international raised his hands to Luisão in a melee started by the Benfica defender after he had gone through the back of Fernando Torres.

The Swedish referee Jonas Eriksson had no hesitation in sending off the Liverpool player.

Two second-half penalties from Oscar Cardozo turned the game around for Benfica to leave Babel regretting his actions. “The referee told me the red card was for touching Luisão’s face – that was it,” said the Dutchman. “It was clear that Luisão had made an awful foul and all I wanted to do was back up Fernando.

“Too harsh maybe. In the end maybe it was a stupid, silly thing for me to touch him in the face, but I think a yellow card would have been fair enough. But if they are the rules …

“He came very loud and very close with his face and I just tried to back him off with my hand [to say] don’t come too close.

“That’s it and in the end they made it bigger than it was. But it was a mistake by me, I will learn from it and it won’t happen again.”

LiverpoolBenficaUefa Europa Leagueguardian.co.uk