Rafa: Europa is important

Rafael Benitez today called on his Liverpool players to put any lingering Champions League disappointment behind them by kick-starting their Europa League campaign in perfect fashion.

The Reds will begin their participation in the tournament with the first leg of the last 32 tie against Unirea Urziceni at Anfield on Thursday, and the boss is eager for his charges to get off to a flying start.

He told a pre-match press conference at Anfield: "We have to move forward. We were really unlucky in the Champions League group stage with the late goals that changed everything.  

"But now we have to move forward and try to win the next game, progress and see how far we can go.

"Every competition is important. The Europa League is the only option we have now to bring some silverware here this season and we will try to do our best.  

"Gerrard and Carra know what it means to win the UEFA Cup, as do I with Valencia. It is an important trophy.

"Maybe people will see some teams in it that they don't know too well, but you can see other teams such as Juventus and Valencia who are big, big clubs coming in from the Champions League with history in Europe.  

"It has to be an important competition for all of us.

"But the first thing we have to do is try to win on Thursday and see what happens. We can talk about the trophy, but the main thing is to try to win in the first round."

Liverpool were left frustrated by their exit from the Champions League at the group stage in December. 

Lyon and Fiorentina both claimed 2-1 victories at Anfield to ultimately send the Reds out of the competition - but the boss believes the results don't fully reflect his side's performances. 

He said: "If you analyse the two games we lost at Anfield, we conceded a late goal against Fiorentina, although we couldn't qualify, and for 70 minutes against Lyon we were on top, conceded a goal and then became a little bit nervous and then conceded a late goal.

"I don't think they were bad games, but it wasn't at the same level we played against Real Madrid or in other games. We were not as bad as the results were." 

Unirea Urziceni will arrive at Anfield on Thursday as arguably something of an unknown quantity to some fans.

However, Benitez insists Liverpool have all the information required on the Romanian champions, who, like the Reds, have also dropped down into the Europa League from the Champions League. 

"They are a good team," said the gaffer. "They are not playing too many games at the moment because of the weather, although they played (a friendly) against Northwich the other day.

"We knew about them before we were drawn against them because we watched the Champions League and we have some information.  

"I have some friends in Seville and we know Unirea have done well.

"They have good players and are well organised. They also have a new manager, so they will maybe change something.  

"Clearly they are a team who are doing well and are not easy to score against, so it will be a tough game like always in Europe."

Video: Rafa on Europa motivation>>

With key players such as Fernando Torres, Yossi Benayoun and Glen Johnson all still to return to action in the coming weeks, Benitez is confident he has enough options at his disposal to challenge for both the Europa League and a top four finish in the Barclays Premier League. 

He added: "We have players coming back from injuries. We will have more options and competition and it will be good.

"We've had players playing too many games, but now with players coming back maybe we can manage in a different way." 

Meanwhile, Emiliano Insua has dismissed any suggestion Liverpool will take the competition lightly.

The Argentina full-back insists the Reds will tackle the game in the same fashion as a Champions League fixture. 

"I think it's one of the most important games for us now," he said. "It's not the Champions League, we know that, and it is a little bit strange to see us in Europa League.

"But we have to approach the game like we would in the Champions League and try to win at Anfield. 

"All of the team want to win the competition but we cannot think about the future. We can only think about next game and try to win.

"There are some good teams in this competition that have left the Champions League, so I think the Europa League is very important for us and the rest of the teams." 

He added: "We know some of their players. They have an Argentinean player I know - Brandan - so we know some things about them.

"We have watched some games of theirs. They are a very good team, well organised and try to play counter attack. We have to think about trying to push them.

"We'll have the fans behind us and we'll try to win the game."

Video: Insua on Europa clash>>