Fernando Torres is reportedly suffering from a hernia problem that will need surgery if he is overplayed.
The Times claims the Liverpool medical staff have told Benitez that the Spanish striker needs to be treated with kid gloves or he will need an operation that will rule him out for two months.
The inguinal hernia apparently developed while he was on international duty in October and the striker has been playing in pain and rationing his training ever since.
He was withdrawn after an hour against Fulham at the weekend and will start against Lyon on Wednesday night.
Benitez admitted: "We are trying to manage, as he was close to having an operation. Two days after the Fulham game, he is still feeling something.
"He is not comfortable and hasn't got the power he had before, so we have to try to protect him.
"Fernando cannot play well if you keep pushing him. Maybe if you push him he will be injured for a long time."
Steven Gerrard has been ruled out of the crunch game against the French side with a groin injury - which could need surgery - along with Martin Skrtel.
Alberto Aquilani has been added to the squad despite still being "weak" from a virus that kept him out of the game with the Cottagers, while Daniel Agger and David Ngog will travel despite carrying slight knocks.
Your Comments
lucasleivia
"justdunit - for a united fan you talk a lot of sense. i totally agree, we have nobody there to even come close to filling his boots when he's injured. michael owen would have been a welcome addition to the squad, i think benitez made a big mistake not signing him on a free. but we cant keep looking for scapegoats every time things dont go our way, sometimes a club hits a rough patch and you just have to ride it out; there is no quick fix solutions here, we just have to struggle to the january transfer window and hope we can shift average players like dossena, babel degen and voronin use what ever money we get plus maybe 20mil from the owners to buy top class players instead."
justdunit
"torres in my opinion is the best striker in the world(im a united fan by the way)but hes a flawed genius,because its no use being devastating in front of goal if your injured most of the time.if he could stay fit for a whole season hed probably bag 40+ goals,but liverpool fans cant keep saying-"if only he was fit,wed beat everyone",hes not so its up to benitez to have built a better squad to grind out results when he and gerrard are not fit."
talkinballs
"(United Fan) It seems obvious to me that if the best striker in the Prem League (arguably) is carrying an injury that shortens his time on the pitch, he should be straight into the operating theatre - end of chat! It's bloody stupid to try and get as much out of him as possible whilst running the risk of a more serious problem. I'm sure it's difficult for Rafa because I can imagine that Torres is desparate to play and probably puts across quite a convincing "Honestly boss, I'm fit to play" argument. But I don't think Fergie would give him that opportunity. At United he would be treated and if the results suffer in the short term - tough s**t! Of course it all boils down to strength in depth - and a strong youth programme."
torres4ever
"woglew you are the biggest fool in the world if u think torres will leave liverpool for united he had been at atleti since 1995 to 2007 granted 1995 to 2001 was youth but won nothing and still stayed until rafa took a gamble which fergie would not, and spent 30 odd million on berba ha ha ha ha ha biggest laugh ever so no he will never go, loves liverpool, loves the fans and appreciates what we done for him."
surprisedicare
"Last season, Liverpool lost the league by 4 points to United. Was it a record total for the Premier League? I¿m not sure, but if not it was close to.
Liverpool lost 2, drew 11. Everyone harps on about ¿they only lost 2, were the better team, etc¿
Now for some math:
If of those 11 games, only 5 had been won and the remaining 6 lost (a crisis one might say on the parallel of this season), that would have been Liverpool¿s total minus 11 (for the concluded draws) and plus 15 (for the 5 wins gained at 3 points a go). For those not keeping up with my workings, that¿s 4 more points than Liverpool actually got.
Goal Difference pending (and Liverpool¿s was greater so no reason to think that would¿ve changed with just one more loss than win recorded) Liverpool would have then won the league. With 8 defeats and no draws.
Looking at the present table, that¿s food for thought I feel. Not a reliance on ¿ifs¿, ¿buts¿ and ¿maybes¿ (cue ¿if my aunt was a man¿¿ responses), simply a realistic perspective and food for thought.
Injuries are a mighty worry mind you.
"
BigShow
"Saw a report on SSN today (I'm working from home, not unemployed before the scouse jokes come out. I'm not scouse either anyway) from Guillem Balague that Torres possibly doesn't need an operation and they think it's a regulation groin strain which needs rest. Apparently there's an agreement between Liverpool and the Spanish FA that he won't be called up to the upcoming international matches meaning he can rest for 10 days which is what groin injuries normally require. Until then he's being managed by Liverpool by only playing an hour in games to protect the injury and so he's not ruled out of training for the 4 day following a match. Expect the same to happen against Lyon although you can still expect idiots like Ronnie Whelan to criticise him for not leaving a player on for the whole game so he can put himself out for two months......"
BigShow
"mancred, it's interesting you mention Kuyt and then claim that Rafa can't get the best out of players when he turned Kuyt (who is a good player with tremendous work rate) into the second highest scoring and assisting right-winger in the league last season after you-know-who. Could I also mention Carragher who was a versatile and unspectacular full-back when Benitez arrived and has been turned into a solid and reliable centre-back by the manager (shame his legs are going now though). I might also mention Gerrard, scored a crapload of goals on the right one season then pushed forward behind Torres to become one of the best partnerships in world football. Or Mascherano, wasted at West Ham, now in my view the best defensive midfielder around, certainly in this country. Or Riera who had a poor reputation after his time at City but made a huge contribution last year and cost very little. Maybe I could mention Benayoun as well, Rafa was scorned for signing him and now he's almost undroppable and a creative and lively presence in all our matches. Or turning Alonso from a £10m player to a £30m+ player. Then we get to Torres himself who was predicted before his arrival as anything from being "the next Shevchenko" to never scoring more than 15 a season, he's not done too badly really. I could provide similar arguments in respect of Agger, Skrtel, Insua and maybe even Lucas too. N'gog even looks like he's decent cover now.
Any response to that?"
fernandotorres
"man united haven't picked up a point in the last 3 games vs liverpool, it had to be said"
nathan561981
"Woglew confirms my suspision that all manc fans are dillusional. We all know unlike judas owen, Torres is a true liverpool fan and would never sign for united."
buzzard
"I'm sorry...there's a rule now where you have to support the team to make a comment on it? I think not. Liverpool are sh*te and fifth place will be a hoped-for dream come May; not because "I hate Stevie G" or "Torres is a mama's boy", but because they have a weak squad, too many injuries and their manager doesn't appear to be able to find those diamonds in the rough which are the difference between champions and also-runs. Of course, if I'm offending any Koppites, I hastily withdraw all my remarks and assert instead that Jamie Carragher walks amongst us as a God....."
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