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• Forward likely to start Europa League second leg on the bench
• ‘He needs match fitness’, says Liverpool manager

The Liverpool manager Rafael Benítez is in no hurry to rush Fernando Torres back into action against Unirea Urziceni in the Europa League in Bucharest tomorrow.

After five weeks out the Spain international made his long-awaited comeback from a knee operation in a 15-minute substitute appearance in Sunday’s goalless draw at Manchester City.

But Benítez is taking a cautious approach, reckoning that their Premier League campaign is of much more importance than their European tie – which they lead 1-0 after last week’s first leg at Anfield.

Torres is likely to be on the bench tomorrow night with a view to possibly starting at home against Blackburn on Sunday.

“We knew we could use him against City. The idea was for 15-20 minutes but still he is not ready,” said Benítez. “He needs match fitness and has to play and train, and we will see later on how he is coming along.

“He was doing very well with the physios and fitness coach. He is really happy. We decided to put him in the squad [against City] because he was training well last Friday. He will be ready soon.

“We have to be careful because it has been a long time. Now it is a question of one step at a time. You cannot push him too hard because you could lose the player and it is not necessary.

“We will see how he progresses and we will decide each day. He could feature against Unirea. We have to see him training and afterwards see how he is feeling and then we will decide – but he will not start.”

Benítez’s squad is now almost at full strength, with David Ngog having recovered from an ankle injury. Only defender Glen Johnson is still missing. However, there is encouraging news about Johnson, who Benítez believes could begin full training by the end of this week, having been out with a knee problem since the end of December.

“Johnson is very close. I think next week he will be training with the team, or maybe at the end of the week, but it will be the same situation we have with Torres,” said the Liverpool manager. “He will need time and we will introduce him little by little.”

After a frustrating tie against Unirea at Anfield – when Ngog scored the only goal – Benítez hopes the fact the hosts have to score will mean his side have more openings.

“We have to believe that the away leg will be different because they will have to attack and that will leave more spaces, and maybe we can create more clear chances,” said the Spaniard. “If they have to attack, they have to be higher [up the field] and the game will be totally different.”

Despite their opponents’ massed defensive ranks a week ago, Benítez knows Liverpool have to do better to break down sides – which they failed to do against City on Sunday – instead of relying on new-found defensive solidity.

“We have to do better” he added. “If you play in the Champions League or Europa League – in a knockout competition – you can see a clean sheet is very important and not to concede away is the main thing because then you can manage at home.”

Fernando TorresLiverpoolUefa Europa Leagueguardian.co.uk

• Liverpool beat Unirea Urziceni of Romania 1-0 at Anfield
• ‘They were stubborn but we expected that,’ says Gerrard

Steven Gerrard believes Liverpool can lift the inaugural Europa League in Hamburg in May despite starting life outside the Champions League last night with a tense 1-0 win over Unirea Urziceni.

David Ngog’s 81st-minute header gave Rafael Benítez’s team a slender lead to take into the second leg in Bucharest next Thursday on a night when they dominated possession against the Romanian champions but struggled to break down a resilient defence.

“They were very stubborn but we expected that,” said the Liverpool captain. “We needed to be a bit more clinical but I think we’ll get more joy away from home. The teams knocked out of the Champions League are fantastic and some of the top sides across Europe are in the competition so it’s going to be tough to win it but we can go all the way.”

Benítez argued that a clean sheet on home soil was adequate compensation for failing to establish a convincing first-leg lead. The Liverpool manager said: “I think we could have scored one or two more goals. It is not the best result but it is good. If we score one [in Romania] they have to score three, so a clean sheet was important.”

LiverpoolSteven GerrardRafael BenítezUnirea UrziceniUefa Europa LeagueAndy Hunterguardian.co.uk

Liverpool made a difficult descent from the Champions League into European football’s second tier tonight and the most worrying aspect for Rafael Benítez was that their work-rate, commitment and attitude were not to blame. The fault was simply that which dragged them into the Europa League against Unirea Urziceni to begin with: a lack of quality when faced with obstinate opponents, although the late impact of two substitutes at least granted Anfield a slender lead to defend in Bucharest next week.

Benítez had issued sufficient warnings that a Europa League containing Juventus, Valencia and Atlético Madrid is not to be taken lightly and much of this encounter proved it can be problematic from the outset. Only when David Ngog headed home from close range in the 81st minute, having been teed up by a combination between Ryan Babel and Daniel Pacheco, did the anxiety around Liverpool’s first fixture at this level for six years begin to disappear.

The Romanian champions were effectively starting anew at Anfield, having lost the coach who guided them to impressive Champions League wins over Sevilla and Rangers in the first half of this season, the former Chelsea full-back Dan Petrescu, and several key players since last playing a competitive fixture back on 14 December. It did not take long for the rust to show. Unirea gifted possession to Ngog straight from the kick-off and within 26 seconds their goalkeeper, Giedrius Arlauskis, was required to make the first save of the night, reacting well to Steven Gerrard’s placed effort towards the top corner after Fábio Aurélio and Dirk Kuyt had combined to send the Liverpool captain clear. A long night on the back foot beckoned immediately for a team who prepared for this date with a 1-0 win at Northwich Victoria on Monday.

Benítez had set the correct tone for a competition that will not be derided at Liverpool should they advance towards the final in Hamburg in May by fielding a strong side. There was certainly no evidence of a preoccupation with Sunday’s important league game at Manchester City in the manager’s selection and his side responded accordingly, showing few signs of complacency towards the competition in a dominant start.

Kuyt dragged another opening wide of the far post and Gerrard sent Albert Riera’s cross off target when picked out for a free header inside the area.

Those missed opportunities gave credence to Benítez’s pre-match assertion that patience would be required against opponents whose virtues lay in defence. The Liverpool manager called that one right, although mainly due to the fact it was impossible to assess the attacking potential of a Unirea team averse to moving forwards.

On the first two occasions the visitors ventured into the Liverpool half they opted to release possession as quickly as possible, Sorin Frunza ignoring his team-mates in favour of rolling a hopeless free-kick at José Reina and Marius Onofras deciding it was somehow a good idea to attempt to beat a goalkeeper of the Spaniard’s calibre with a gentle punt from the halfway line.

All of which, of course, brought frustration to the surface at Anfield the longer the contest remained scoreless. Javier Mascherano almost produced a magnificent breakthrough with a 35-yard drive that was deflected away from Arlauskis’s net via a defender’s shoulder and, following a subdued first half, Ngog exploded to life with a neat turn and shot under ­pressure that rolled narrowly wide.

Despite Gerrard’s probing and movement behind Ngog, Riera’s inconsistent forays on the left and dominating possession to a greater degree than they have in months, Liverpool struggled to find a way behind the Romanian defence. Indeed the longer the tie wore on the more it appeared Liverpool’s early superiority was a result of a gulf in match fitness and not, as Anfield had hoped, class.

Benítez’s team did not help their cause with increasingly careless distribution, not that it compelled Unirea to show any ambition, and it was only when Aurélio drilled a left-foot shot wide from 25 yards in the 62nd minute that the visiting goalkeeper had to be alert again. After squandering several chances to cross from the left Riera was withdrawn to sarcastic jeers from the home crowd and his replacement, Babel, at least injected some urgency into Liverpool’s play.

Martin Skrtel headed wastefully over from close range when Aurélio’s corner found him unmarked and Arlauskis saved from Gerrard, until Ngog finally spared Liverpool’s embarrassment.

Uefa Europa LeagueLiverpoolUnirea UrziceniAndy Hunterguardian.co.uk