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• Liverpool defender unavailable until end of April
• Player will not need surgery on broken toe

Martin Skrtel will be out for up to eight weeks with a broken metatarsal he sustained against Unirea Urziceni last week.

Liverpool said the defender would be absent for most of the rest of the season with the injury to his right foot.

Skrtel will not need surgery, the club said on their website, but the recovery process means he will be unavailable to Rafael Benítez until the end of April.

The 25-year-old Slovakian had to be substituted midway through the second half of Liverpool’s 3-1 Europa League win in Bucharest.

Liverpool are poised to offer Javier Mascherano a two-year contract extension that will keep him at Anfield until 2014 and out of the clutches of Barcelona. The Spanish club have declared their interest for the Liverpool midfielder after Pep Guardiola, their coach, identified the Argentina captain as the perfect foil for Xavi Hernández and Andrés Iniesta almost a year ago.

Talks are continuing and Liverpool are hopeful the player will agree to stay beyond February 2012, when his present deal expires.

Liverpoolguardian.co.uk

Liverpool’s appetite for the Europa League has not been in question, only their longing for adventure, but three goals in Romania and a personal landmark for Steven Gerrard delivered an emphatic response to accusations of conservatism tonight. This was Unirea Urziceni’s first defeat on home soil in Europe this season and brought Gerrard the immense satisfaction of replacing Alan Shearer as the leading English goalscorer in continental combat.

The margin of Liverpool’s aggregate triumph does a disservice to the pandemonium Unirea often caused the visiting defence. But having been admonished for innate caution at Manchester City on Sunday and witnessed his team record only two goals in seven away matches before this contest, Rafael Benítez will not be unduly troubled by an open affair. Gerrard’s 33rd goal in European competition provided welcome gloss.

Unirea, in the simplest terms, were up for it from the start. Benítez had claimed this tie was a fixation for the Romanians on their return from a mid-season break and after two defeats in Rony Levy’s first two matches in charge – at Anfield and in the league against Cluj – their opening confirmed the Liverpool manager’s view. An initially subdued response from the visitors added to the concerns for Benítez.

Levy’s side displayed more attacking intent in the first two minutes in Bucharest than in more than 90 on Merseyside but the problems they caused a nervous Liverpool defence were not reflected in the scoreline. Sorin Frunza was first to show on a sodden, heavy pitch with a dipping half-volley from 18 yards that dropped just over José Reina’s crossbar. Gerrard tested Giedrius Arlauskis with a trademark drive moments later yet Liverpool did not stretch the Unirea defence again until their captain and centre-half George Galamaz limped off in the 27th minute as a consequence of his own clumsy foul on Martin Skrtel.

Galamaz departed with his side level on aggregate courtesy of the first goal of Levy’s reign. The home side found space on the left of the Liverpool defence with alarming frequency but it was the pace and accuracy of their set-piece delivery that caused constant mayhem inside the visiting area. Marius Onofras latched on to a long ball over Skrtel and was foiled inside the box by a well-timed challenge from Daniel Agger, making his 100th Liverpool appearance. With the first example of Razvan Paduretu’s impressive armoury at a dead-ball, Bruno Fernandes towered above Agger from the corner and dispatched an unstoppable header past Reina.

The loss of their first-leg advantage so early in the game helped awaken Liverpool to their task. Of the four changes Benítez made to the side that started the first leg – with Alberto Aquilani, Dirk Kuyt and Fabio Aurelio on the bench and Albert Riera overlooked completely. The performances of the relentless Lucas and Javier Mascherano showed how difficult it will be for Aquilani to secure a regular first-team role in central midfield this term.

Liverpool’s midfield core was integral to the team’s gradual improvement and only two minutes after Galamaz’s injury they equalised in superb fashion. There appeared no immediate danger when Jamie Carragher floated a deep cross to the far post but Gerrard’s header back and David Ngog’s presence induced panic in the Romanian defence. Onofras sliced a desperate clearance to the edge of his own area and Mascherano, with only one officially recognised goal for Liverpool before the game, doubled his tally with an outstanding drive beyond Arlauskis from 25 yards.

Unirea almost regained the lead courtesy of two excellent Paduretu corners, the first piercing the penalty area and deflecting inches wide of the far post off Emiliano Insua, only to fall behind to another cross from the right five minutes before the interval. This time the home defence could not deal with a Gerrard free-kick and Babel, having taken an exquisite first touch away from Skrtel, tucked a nonchalant finish inside the near post from close range.

The tie was beyond the Romanians yet they refused to divert from their adventurous game-plan and continued to cause Liverpool problems. The visitors maximised the space they were afforded and added a third when Lucas released Yossi Benayoun inside the area and his mazy run enabled Gerrard to achieve another personal milestone with a deflected shot from close range. This was the first time since the 6-1 trouncing of Hull City on 26 September that Liverpool had scored more than twice, although their night ended on a worrying note when Skrtel was carried off with a suspected broken foot after a heavy challenge from the substitute, Antonio Semedo.

Uefa Europa LeagueLiverpoolUnirea UrziceniDaniel Taylorguardian.co.uk

• Israeli midfielder returns a year after conquering Bernabéu
• Fernando Torres likely to be on the bench

This is what comes of a backward step. One year ago today Liverpool supporters danced around the Bernabéu after Yossi Benayoun’s late header added Real Madrid to their litany of conquests among the European elite. Tonight it is Bucharest, Unirea Urziceni and the Europa League: the signposts of a miserable 12-month journey.

The assignment would not reflect so badly on Rafael Benítez’s team but for the anniversary that illustrates the tortuous road travelled since, although they require no reminder themselves. Liverpool’s approach in the first meeting with the Romanian champions provided little immediate evidence of complacency towards the competition, only a shortage of answers to an obstinate defence, but the timing of the return provides a test of their focus.

“There is obviously a contrast between the Real Madrid game and the game in Bucharest now, but that is football and you cannot be too disappointed,” admitted Benayoun, whose return from rib and back problems against Manchester City on Sunday brings hope of greater invention tonight. “We have been an important team, a big team in the Champions League in recent seasons. Hopefully, we will finish in the top four in the Premier League and be back in it next season.

“For us it is still a very important game. Of course we wanted to be in the Champions League group stages but now we have to concentrate on the league and the Europa League. We won 1-0 last week and we have the advantage and have to finish things off. We are playing for a title which would be important. It gives us a chance to do something positive this season.”

The Liverpool manager mentioned Benayoun and Fernando Torres in the same breath yesterday as he responded to criticism over his caution at City but conceded that, with the Israel captain and the Spanish striker available again, they should be more expansive in coming games. It was a mark of how deeply Benítez has missed Benayoun since January and also the midfielder’s rise since that personal landmark in Madrid.

“For me it was a special moment,” he recalls. “Firstly to score a goal with my head in the Bernabéu was special because it is not the strongest part of my game. Personally, I think that game changed my Liverpool career. The goal gave me a lot of confidence and I think since then I have played a lot better for Liverpool. It was definitely the defining moment of my career. I had played good games and bad games before this, but really after this goal I started playing better and better.”

Torres is expected to be among the substitutes at the Steaua Stadium which hosts Unirea’s home games in Europe as their 7000-capacity Tineretului Stadium does not meet Uefa standards. The relocation did not hinder the Romanians in the Champions League group stage – when they drew at home with Stuttgart and Rangers before beating Sevilla – but Liverpool’s recent record of just two goals in their last seven away games suggests the Spaniard may not remain on the bench all evening.

“One-nil is not the best result but it is a good result if we can score here,” said Benítez, whose side required an 81st-minute goal from David Ngog for their first-leg advantage. “At home we created three or four clear chances but their keeper played well. The Romanian press were critical of them for being too defensive and positive about us. In England it was the other way around! But we know we can score against them and we know they have to attack if they want to change things which will give us more space to exploit. With Yossi coming back, Torres back, Babel, Kuyt and Gerrard we have more offensive players and hopefully it can be better.”

Unirea Urziceni (4-1-4-1): Arlauskis; Maftei, Galamaz, Fernandes, Munteanu; Paraschiv; Onofras, Paduretu, Apostol, Frunza; Bilasco.

Liverpool (4-2-3-1): Reina; Carragher, Skrtel, Agger, Insúa; Mascherano, Lucas; Benayoun, Gerrard, Babel; Kuyt.

Referee S Johannesson (Sweden)

LiverpoolUefa Europa LeagueFernando TorresAndy Hunterguardian.co.uk