Asked if he was disappointed by the timing of Grant's words, Benitez said: "With my experience I know that these things can happen, if you asked me about Lampard or Drogba for instance, I would say that he is a very good player. It's not particularly important, everybody knows that Gerrard is a good player and that he is a key player for us. If someone asked me or asked Avram Grant then we would talk very well about the player.

"When we were playing against Inter Milan, Gerrard was mentioned for Inter and again for Arsenal. Hopefully it will be the same in the final against Barcelona or Man Utd.

"Steve is a fantastic player, he is focused and his commitment to Liverpool is 100 per cent, so we're not worried."