Benitez ambushed by early Israeli fire

Champions League: Maccabi Haifa (1) v Liverpool (2), Kiev, kick-off 7.35. If Liverpool touched down in Ukraine painfully aware of the implications of failure to force their way into the Champions League group stage, they were still caught cold last night by the strength of furious discontent among their Israeli opponents.

Maccabi Haifa are incensed that the tie has been switched to a neutral venue, with an already potentially hazardous game now laced with an undercurrent of venom.

Rafael Benitez and his players had spent almost two hours on the Tarmac at John Lennon International airport before their plane took off, and then a similar time in stifling heat waiting forlornly for their luggage to appear on the carousel at the other end.

However, the Spaniard's day degenerated even further when he walked into what was in effect an ambush at his press conference at the team hotel, with Israeli journalists echoing the convictions of Maccabi's manager, Roni Levy, by accusing him of forcing Uefa to switch tonight's second leg away from Tel Aviv.

Benitez had claimed it would be "totally unacceptable" to play the second leg in Israel, yet the relative calm since the ceasefire in the cross-border conflict with Hizbullah has persuaded many, including Levy, to claim this fixture could have been staged at Haifa's preferred venue after all.

With Liverpool clinging to a slender 2-1 advantage from the first leg and some £12 million (€18 million) riding on the return, Benitez could have done without such an awkward confrontation.

And seeing Steven Gerrard subsequently sitting out most of the training at the Valery Lobanovsky Stadium with a stomach upset capped a miserable day.

But Benitez was most unnerved by the the ferocity of feeling that erupted in the press conference.

He was asked why his side were "so afraid to come to Tel Aviv", and his insistence that "everyone knows the problems there" was dismissed, Israelis arguing there had been no violence in the city since the outbreak of hostilities on the Lebanese border, and that Benitez had used Liverpool's standing in the game to force Uefa's hand.

"It is a Uefa decision and there is a reason, no?" he retorted. "It is clear. We are here to play a game of football and we don't need to talk about other things. How many other (Uefa) games will be played in Israel? How many?

"I need to think about my players, my supporters, my staff. I don't know why you continue with the same questions: we have a lot of respect for Maccabi Haifa, for the supporters and the people there, but we are here to play a football game. Nothing else."

The altercation ended with an open invitation to Benitez to visit Israel, with Levy's own frustrations made worse by the fact that, three years ago, his Maccabi side drew 0-0 with Benitez's Valencia at the Mestalla only to see the second leg switched to a neutral venue in Holland. The Spanish duly won 4-0.

Levy spent this week showing his players clips of the first-leg tie at Anfield and bemoaning what he perceived to have been Liverpool's "dirty tricks" in adopting a physical style of play.

Benitez laughed off such mind games, though his side's predicament is starkly serious given Gustavo Boccoli's away goal. Failure to emerge unscathed tonight is inconceivable. The club have spent more than two years unsuccessfully attempting to attract new investment, with concerns simmering at the level of long-term net debt accrued in the meantime.

"Some of my players have won the league, the Uefa Cup, the Champions League, and they will be okay," Benitez insisted.

"Sure, it's been a long day and we are not 100 per cent yet - even if we are fitter than we were two weeks ago - but we have enough experience to cope.

"Financially, this is really important."

• Guardian Service