Rafa Benitez took out his frustrations on Austrian referee Konrad Plautz after Liverpool gifted Chelsea a route back into their Champions League semi-final.
John Arne Riise’s stoppage time own goal gave Chelsea a 1-1 draw in Tuesday’s first leg at Anfield and left Benitez’s side as underdogs ahead of the return in London next Wednesday.
But Benitez was convinced an inconsistent, fussy display from Plautz had played a key role in stopping Liverpool extending their lead after Dirk Kuyt’s opener.
The Reds manager insisted Plautz, who also angered Benitez after his display during a defeat against Marseille earlier this season, added on too much injury time, failed to give Liverpool a penalty for a push and let Chelsea break up the game by not penalizing their fouls.
“I was surprised they didn’t score from a free-kick or corner because it was always fouls against us. It was difficult to understand,” Benitez said.
“It was really disappointing, but it is not the first time. We knew before the game because against Marseille it was more or less the same,” he said.
“You can’t blame the referee for the own goal, but it was one minute injury time in the first half and four in the second half. It is very difficult to explain,” Benitez said.
“In the first half there were fouls against us for pushing and I have seen one Chelsea player do that in their penalty area. I was really surprised,” he said.
Benitez refused to blame Norwegian defender Riise for heading Salomon Kalou’s cross into his own net. Instead he pointed the finger at his players for wasting chances to put the game beyond Avram Grant’s side.
“It is not the player’s fault. It could have gone to the stands or to the other side. These kind of balls that bounce are really difficult,” Benitez said.
“We had three chances but in this kind of game it is not easy to create chances. We have to take them. Normally when you concede a goal at the end everyone is disappointed. We have 90 minutes and we have to go there for a win,” he said.
Chelsea manager Avram Grant was adamant Chelsea were worth a draw and said: “We never score in the last minute and have conceded three or four so I think we deserved it.”
“It was a game without many chances. It was a typical game for a semi-final,” Grant said. “There was a big mistake by us for their goal. Until then we controlled the game. In the second half we made some changes and in the end we got a good result for us. It was a big goal because it gave us an advantage for the second game. 1-1 away is always an advantage but it will be tough again. I hope we will see this is an important goal.”
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