The Reds were visibly shattered by the 1-1 home draw with Manchester City yesterday which left them seven points adrift of leaders Manchester United with 12 games left.

Kuyt's late equaliser, his ninth goal of the season, saved face but did little to lift the gloomy reality that swept over Anfield.

But the Dutchman tried his best to rally colleagues and fans alike with Liverpool facing a tough away clash with Madrid on Wednesday in the last 16 of the Champions League.

The task of reaching the last eight in Europe has been made more difficult by Real's stunning current form which boasts nine successive La Liga victories and a remarkable 6-1 rout of Real Betis on Saturday.

But Kuyt said: "What we must do is turn our attention to the next big game in Madrid, we must concentrate on getting the right result there.

"If we do that in Madrid it will boost our confidence as we try to win the final league games.

"Whatever seems to be happening in our league matches, we always seem to turn in a good performance in the Champions League.

"Madrid will be tough, we must be ready. But we believe we can get the right result there.

"I watched Real Madrid on TV on Saturday scoring six against Real Betis, they were excellent. I always make sure I watch them when I can because they have such quality.

"We are not scared of them. When you get beyond the group stages of the Champions League everyone there is a good team.

"It will be a fantastic game for us. I have never played in the Bernabeu, it is one of those great stadiums I have on my list to play at, and that chance is here.

"So that is an incentive to do well and produce my best form. And if we do get a good result there, it will give us a good lift."

He added: "That is what we want. We are sure we can beat sides with the quality of Madrid. We have shown that this season.

"We have beaten Chelsea twice, we have beaten Manchester United and we know we can do it. We just have to be ready.

"We have always known we must win at Manchester United, the gap is bigger than we would have liked but we must keep going and retain our confidence.

"The Bernabeu is a stadium I have always wanted to play at. Just like the Nou Camp a couple of years ago.

"We beat Barcelona that night and nobody expected it, so we know we can beat Real Madrid too."

Kuyt concedes catching Manchester United in the title race will be very difficult.

He said after the draw with Mark Hughes' City: "We were really disappointed with the game, we knew we had to win to close the gap on United.

"We tried everything, we controlled much of the match but could not get the result.

"We dominated the first half before Craig (Bellamy) scored a good goal for City.

"It is not impossible to catch Manchester United. The situation has not changed much, we have always needed to win our games.

"The gap has been a few points for some while and we have just needed to maintain our form and keep in touch with United."

Defender Martin Skrtel agreed, saying: "We were all disappointed with the result against City. It was a very important game for us and we did not get the result we needed.

"We are left seven points behind Manchester United, and it is one less game until the end of the season.

"We will now have to keep going, win our matches and see where that takes us.

"We did not play at our best, but we must look ahead to the Champions League and make amends in that match."

Defender Jamie Carragher, stand-in skipper for the injured Steven Gerrard, summed it up by saying: "We have to do better than that and we know it, we now have to go to Manchester United and win next month and hope they drop points."

Boss Rafael Benitez refused to throw any light on his complex new contract negotiations, but it is believed he wants to be able to quit Anfield if he feels he cannot work with new owners if the club is eventually sold.

However, the Spaniard was insistent the title race is not over yet.

Of the performance against Manchester City, he said: "We lost two points that are very important now.

"You have to take your chances, that is the pity. But I still have belief even if it is more difficult.

"We can talk all we like about United losing points, but it is up to us to keep winning our games. If we do not do that then it is pointless to talk.

"As in previous seasons, it is here at Anfield we have lost the initiative. We have drawn too many games, teams come here and defend very deep and have too many players behind the ball.

"The problem for us is we are reduced to two or three chances, and you must take them in that situation.

"It is difficult to say it is finished just yet, we have to win our games and think of the next three points and the Champions League game in Madrid."