BACK PAGE: 2010

LIVERPOOL skipper Steven Gerrard said the team had answered Rafa Benitez’s criticism by knocking Lille out of the Europa League. Boss Benitez had raged at his team after they lost to Wigan in the Premier League. “He’s the manager, he’s allowed to say what he thinks,” said Gerrard. In the same competition, Roy Hodgson’s Fulham KO’d Juventus thanks to a 4-1 home win, en route to losing in the final to Liverpool’s semi-final conquerors Atletico Madrid.