Rafael Benitez has admitted losing to Chelsea in the Champions League semi-final last season was his most painful defeat as Liverpool boss.

The sides play the first leg of their quarter-final in this season's competition tomorrow but Benitez is still troubled by what happened 12 months ago, when John Arne Riise's own goal turned the tie.

Riise's error in the last minute of the first leg at Anfield allowed Chelsea to get a lucky 1-1 draw and Liverpool went on to lose the return match 3-2.

The Merseysiders were beaten by AC Milan in the 2007 final, but for Benitez it was nothing compared to finishing second best to Chelsea.

Indeed, the Spaniard took a swipe at Chelsea by claiming he coped better with losing to Milan because they were a 'good' side.

He said: "It hurt more losing that tie to Chelsea than the final against Milan the year before.

"I was disappointed in Athens because we played well, but we played a good team and in a final anything can happen.

"In the semi-final against Chelsea I felt we were much better than them in the first game and conceded an own goal at the end, which made a massive difference for the second game. We were really disappointed."