Aquilani and Torres give Liverpool European boost

Alberto Aquilani is in line to raise Liverpool’s spirits as they look to finish a forgettable Champions League campaign with their 100th victory in the competition on Wednesday.

Fernando Torres is also due to return from injury and play some part against Fiorentina, a ‘dead’ Group E tie for Liverpool after their hopes of reaching this season’s knockout stages ended last month.

With Fiorentina and Lyon both securing qualification, Rafael Benitez’s side have been left to plan for the Europa League, five-times European Cup winners Liverpool relegated to Europe’s second-tier club competition.

There is huge disappointment among the club’s supporters that Liverpool have failed to reach the last 16 of a competition that has provided the Merseyside club with some of its greatest highlights.

But Benitez plans to appease frustrated fans by giving Aquilani his first start against Fiorentina while star striker Torres, who has missed the last five games with a groin injury, is set to come on as a substitute.

Aquilani has cost Liverpool nearly one million pounds (1.6 million dollars) a minute so far with injury restricting the Italian midfielder, a 20 million pounds (32.6 million dollars) signing from Roma in August, to just three short substitute appearances totalling 22 minutes of playing time.

But Aquilani has been an unused substitute in recent games and his father claimed in the British press on Tuesday his son had been fit and available for some time.

“Don’t ask me about his father,” said Benitez when pressed on the issue by reporters here on Tuesday.

“He was quoted today in the press and I was talking with Alberto. He was surprised and couldn’t believe it.

“I think he knows why he hasn’t played too much so far. When you have a player who has been out for a long time you need to keep building and keep working with him.”

Benitez added: “I think it would have been very difficult for him, a player who has been injured for a long time, to play in our recent games against Everton or Blackburn.

“We were trying to give him the right moment, but the games were very tough and tight. But now is the right moment,” the Spaniard explained.

Benitez, turning to Torres, also said: “Fernando cannot start against Fiorentina for the same reasons that Alberto hasn’t been able to start lately.

“He has been three or four weeks without training with the team. It will depend on the game and the fitness of the player how much time he will get.”

Liverpool’s lack of European success so far this season has been made worse by their poor domestic form.

The Reds, last crowned English champions in 1990, were expected to mount a serious challenge for the Premier League title this term.

But instead they currently find themselves in seventh place, 12 points behind leaders Chelsea.

However, a defiant Benitez insisted there was still time for Liverpool to turn their season around.

“We know what it means to play in the Champions League. It’s always difficult when you’re not in the competition,” he said.

“We have an opportunity now to bring players back, play even better and score goals, don’t concede, and see where we go in the Europa League, the Premier League and the FA Cup.

“I’m confident we will finish in the top four in the league – at least.”

Beating Fiorentina would not only see Liverpool achieve a milestone win but also give the club a much-needed lift ahead of Sunday’s league match against Arsenal.