So much at stake for Wenger and Benitez in the Anfield cauldron

Two draws at the Emirates Stadium, when he said they could afford to draw only once, and what probably marks the end of their challenge in the title race.

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Wenger refused to admit as much on Monday night, arguing instead that his side, who have won just two of their last 11 matches, could not only win the Champions League but the Barclays Premier League title as well. His statements were all the more impressive for the fact that they were delivered with a straight face.

But the odds, even if their respective positions in the League might suggest otherwise, would appear to be very much in Liverpool's favour for what promises to be a fascinating Champions League clash.

Liverpool do not just have an away goal and the backing of an Anfield crowd that, as John Terry later admitted, terrified the life out of Chelsea three years ago, they also have the momentum, the right mindset and a manager, in Rafa Benitez, who already appears to know that his team will progress to a third Champions League semi-final in four seasons.

Benitez does not need a gentle, but brilliantly brutal, reminder of his limitations by someone as quick-witted as Brian Glanville. As the doyen of football writing once remarked in the direction of a less senior reporter: 'I wish I had that young man's over-confidence.'

But there was a calm, confident air about Benitez yesterday that contrasted sharply with the sense of desperation that engulfed Wenger.

While Benitez spoke of the 20 years at Real Madrid that moulded him as a man as well as a manager with a certain skill for succeeding on the European stage, Wenger issued the kind of statements that lesser managers would have been ridiculed for.

'I personally believe we can still finish champions in the League,' said the Arsenal boss before predicting that his side would walk away at the end of the season with the League and European Double.

It invited the obvious response. Their more recent results would suggest they can barely walk at all, his team had hit what marathon runners refer to as the wall and his remarks amounted to nothing more than a vain attempt to lift them for one last push.

'Your question tells me you don't believe we can do it,' Wenger said as he sat in the trophy room at Anfield. 'But I believe we can. I said we would need five wins and one draw, and the result on Saturday now makes winning at Old Trafford on Sunday compulsory, but I would not be here if I didn't believe we could do it.

'You cannot be scared to lose a game. Defeat is never unthinkable. It is part of sport. But I believe in the quality of my team and the ability of my team to win anywhere in the world.'

Victory in Milan five weeks ago would indeed suggest they can, but that memorable night at the San Siro is beginning to look like the last push Wenger is asking for now, while the comeback at Bolton was more an act of defiance than proof of a timely revival.

Wenger and his players clearly disagree, and in their favour is the fact that good fortune was not with them at the Emirates last week. As well as Nicklas Bendtner's split-second appearance as a Liverpool defender, there was that extremely dubious penalty decision.

Then, of course, there is what Wenger referred to yesterday as the 'urgency' factor. Unlike the previous two games, their third match against Liverpool in less than a week is one that not only holds the key to the semi-finals but to the respective seasons of both clubs. For Arsenal or Liverpool the season ends on Tuesday night.

That might just spark Arsenal back into life — and a team of their obvious quality should never be written off, whatever the circumstances — but Benitez is not so sure.

'It will be really difficult for Arsenal to win the League, because they have two teams ahead of them,' he said. 'I remember two months ago when he (Wenger) told journalists that it was almost impossible for Liverpool to win the League because there were three teams ahead. Now there are two good teams ahead of Arsenal, teams who rarely lose, so the Premier League will be really difficult for them.'

Benitez was in a feisty mood, even challenging the idea that Arsenal are at a disadvantage because of a lack of experience. 'I don't agree with this,' he said. 'Almunia is not young, Toure is not young, Adebayor is not young.

'He's not 18 years old. Hleb is not young. Fabregas is only 20 but he has played four years at the maximum level, and they all have the experience of a final two years ago.'

Wenger has an answer to that. 'We have played in a final but we are still young,' he said. 'They are all young. I cannot say they are old. I'm sorry.'

But it is the response on Tuesday that counts, and Benitez appeared so much more relaxed yesterday, reflecting on his education at Madrid and the painful memory of seeing them lose to Liverpool in the 1981 European Cup Final.

'That is the one I remember,' he said. 'More than the finals Madrid won. I was 10 years as a player and 10 years as a coach in the Real Madrid system, and to finish second is not enough. So I have this mentality, it's my background.'

Tuesday's game, you suspect, is unlikely to be one that troubles him.