Lyon, now managed by former Liverpool boss Gerard Houllier, were linked with Baros in the summer and have again contacted the European Cup holders to re-affirm their interest in the player Houllier signed from Banik Ostrava.

Benitez has been reluctant to play Baros in European ties because the player would become ineligible for any UEFA competition this season and reduce his transfer value.

But Benitez said today: “Milan is our player, he will be travelling with the squad to Bulgaria.

“There are lots of rumours about clubs being interested on him but so far the bids have not been good enough, so he is still our player.”

Lyon have clearly not reached Benitez’s valuation with their enquiry, so the Liverpool boss will play a game of brinkmanship and threaten to cuptie the 24-year-old, something that will leave Lyon living on their nerves, having already qualified for the Champions League group stages.

With Lyon clearly looking to earmark some of the money they are likely to get from any deal to sell Michael Essien to Chelsea, Benitez wants to turn the screw on the French club by leaving them unsure whether te player they want will become cup tied this week.

It is highly unlikely that Benitez will risk losing cash by playing Baros, but he said: “We signed Fernando Morientes last season knowing he could not play for us in the Champions League. With so many matches to play you can use some players in one competition and others in another.”

Liverpool have got a host of injury problems for the CSKA game. Peter Crouch is out with a hamstring problem, Josemi with a thigh strain and Bolo Zenden with a muscle problem while Jerzy Dudek has dislocated his elbow in training.

It leaves Benitez short of attacking options, and if the choice was between risking Baros if the Sofia match becomes difficult or losing a few million on his transfer fee, there is little doubt that Benitez would throw the Czech into the action to protect Liverpool’s long term Champions League dreams.

Baros has been the subject of interest from Monaco, Aston Villa, West Ham and Everton, but Benitez is insisting on a £7m (€10.1m) transfer fee, and so far nobody has come near to that demand.

Speculation that Michael Owen might return to Anfield persists but Benitez insists that the Real Madrid player is still not in in his plans.

He said: “I have six strikers, I am looking for a centre back and a right winger.

“I am not looking for another centre forward, only a centre back. And at the moment I am only thinking about playing against CSKA.”

Also unavailable for the Bulgaria trip are Djimi Traore, Harry Kewell, Neil Mellor and Florent Sinama-Pongolle, so Benitez looks certain to field his strongest side possible against a team who won their domestic title while losing only one game last term and are recognised as one of the toughest opponents Liverpool could get at this stage.