Bring it on!

Steven Gerrard last night spelt out Liverpool's urgent desire to retain the European Cup, their triumph against Milan in Istanbul last May having merely served to whet the appetite as they attempt to negotiate passage beyond Benfica into the quarter-finals in Portugal tonight.

The midfielder returns to the Estadio da Luz this evening hoping to exorcise the nightmarish memories of England's defeat here to France at Euro 2004, in which his back-pass prompted the penalty in stoppage time from which Zinedine Zidane sealed the defending champions' victory. Gerrard also experienced elimination from that tournament in this arena, to Portugal on penalties, with Benfica to endure the backlash.

"We won't let the title of European champions go without a fight," said Gerrard. "I promise that now to the supporters. Whoever we come up against we will give 110% because we know what it feels like to win it and we want to win it again this year. People aren't talking about Liverpool which suits us fine, to be honest. We will just go about our game, but try taking it from us and people will see how desperate we are to succeed. Continue Reading

Benefica v Liverpool: Streaming info.