The Reds looked a shadow of the side which had overcome holders Barcelona to reach the quarter-finals when scrapping out a dismal goalless draw at Aston Villa.

Neither goalkeeper had to make a save worthy of the name until Villa's Thomas Sorensen kept out a header from substitute Robbie Fowler in the dying seconds.

But Benitez is adamant the minds of his players are focused on such less glamorous occasions.

He said: "I don't think it is hard for the players to lift themselves away from the Champions League.

"In fact, we were talking about making sure we finished in the top four and the importance of winning at Villa.

"When you are thinking about the win and only get a point then you must be disappointed - but we are a little bit closer in terms of finishing in the top four.

"We want to ensure we will be playing in the Champions League again next season.

"It wasn't a good game. We didn't create clear chances. In the final third, we had problems and Villa were pressing well in the middle and playing counter-attack football."

Benitez acknowledged the importance of being able to win when not playing well as has been demonstrated by Manchester United in some games in recent weeks.

He said: "The difference sometimes when you cannot play well and still win is just one chance and maybe the one at the end from Robbie Fowler could have been the difference.

"Those things are the difference at the end of the season."

Villa manager Martin O'Neill admitted his side are lacking in confidence after a run of only two wins in the last 18 league matches.

He said: "We didn't play well and it turned out to be more of a chess game than an entertaining match.

"It is up to us as the home side to do better than we did. The responsibility of that is down to me.

"I thought we were lacking a bit of confidence. We let a couple of relatively comfortable situations become uncomfortable for us and that led to a bit of frustration.

"Are some of players a bit frightened? I think that is a very good point. We've lost a bit of confidence and that showed in our play.

"I was hoping we would be able to play better under pressure than we did do. I should be pleased with a point.

"We have got something but I'm disappointed because we had a large crowd and we disappointed them."