Benitez said: “We know that if we can win in Europe it will give us more confidence in our domestic matches.
“It will also take us that bit nearer to qualification for the next stage. If we win, we’ll be in a good position.”
The Liverpool boss expects his team to cope without injured captian Steven Gerrard in France: “He can change games so it is difficult when we lose him, but we do have a squad I believe that is capable of handling the situation.
“I have said that maybe I want better performances from some of the senior players but that is not a criticism because we know why things have not gone as well this season.
“The amount of time out players have been away with their countries, even after a tiring World Cup, has not made things easy. We are not the only club experiencing this.
“Players cannot be 100% fit and in their best form at the moment. They will all need time to recharge their batteries.
“We are now training all together at last after the international breaks have finally finished. That is the key, now we should see improvement.”
