NOT for the first time, European success came with the added bonus of providing Premier League encouragement for Rafael Benitez last night.
Critics of Liverpool’s championship challenge cite the lack of strength in depth to their squad when compared to main title rivals Manchester United and Chelsea.
But a side stripped of many first-team regulars was more than sufficient to help the Anfield outfit secure top spot in their Champions League group.
When Benitez last sent out a team overloaded with fringe players, Liverpool were unceremoniously thrashed 4-2 at Tottenham Hotspur in their Carling Cup fourth round tie last month.
There was to be no repeat here. Instead, the Anfield manager will have been heartened by the performances of a clutch players who were among those to have let themselves down at White Hart Lane.
Goals from Ryan Babel, Albert Riera and David Ngog ensured an emphatic 3-1 victory against a PSV Eindhoven who had earlier gone ahead through Danko Lazovic.
This result, coupled with Atletico Madrid’s failure to beat Marseille in Group D’s other game, allowed Liverpool to leapfrog the Spaniards and meant they had achieved Benitez’s objective of hosting the second leg of their first knockout round tie.
The Spaniard’s reluctance to rotate has been judged by many as a contributory factor to the Anfield outfit’s strong Premier League showing, but has also caused restlessness among certain squad members.
Babel voiced his concerns at a lack of first-team action last month and such is his frustration the Dutchman even sought to engineer a loan move back to former club Ajax.
Having disappointed at Blackburn Rovers on Saturday, Babel needed a decent outing on returning to his homeland. And while still infuriatingly inconsistent in his decision-making, the 21-year-old will have been buoyed by the goal that drew Liverpool level in first-half stoppage time.
Lucas floated a free-kick in from the right in the direction of Babel, who evaded marker Otman Bakkal before dispatching a fine header that PSV goalkeeper Andreas Isaksson’s right hand could not repel.
It was Liverpool’s 300th goal in the European Cup.
