Despite United’s comeback against Spurs, Liverpool head in to May for the first time in 18 years still involved in a title charge in the final month of the season.
While not admitting all hope is gone, Rafa belives that the experience the reds will gain from this season’s campaign will be vital in seasons ahead.
“The team, the squad, has shown that it’s better and this is a fantastic experience for the next years because we are in a position now that we were not before, for me that is the positive thing,” said the Liverpool manager.
“Always you can talk about trophies but in England there are so many strong sides, it’s not easy. At least you have to be there, you have to be contending – then you see what happens.
“We have four games now to finish the season and we’re still in the title race so I think it’s very positive.
“Normally when you play this level you know that at the end of the season you will play for trophies and can lose but if you analyse the whole season I think the team’s done very well, especially without Gerrard and Torres for a lot of games.
“I have confidence that we can fight until the end. After that, it’s very good experience because we have been in a position we were not before, not for a long time.”
“I have confidence United will drop points. So we need to keep going, keep doing our job, put them under pressure and then we will see.”
Liverpool played poorly against Hull yet ran out 3-1 winners which Benitez pointed to as a sign of improvement.
“We were talking with the players about these kinds of games that could be the difference. This year we’ve won against the top sides, so these kind of games, which we’ve been drawing, have to be the difference in the future.
“We assessed the game and I thought we could control it, but it was difficult because they were pushing. We were making mistakes, and we need to improve.”
“I think Hull can be safe. It’ll be difficult for all the teams near the bottom because they’ll play now with more nerves, more anxiety, but I think it will be a good battle – if you’re not in it. But Hull have the potential to stay up.”
