Benitez welcomes UEFA action
Liverpool boss Rafael Benitez has welcomed UEFA’s decisive action after they charged Marseille following an incident at Anfield when an object was thrown at Steven Gerrard.
The Reds skipper appeared to be hit by a missile thrown from the Marseille fans’ section as he went to take a corner in the first half of Liverpool’s 1-0 Champions League victory.
European football’s governing body today confirmed that Marseille will answer the charge at a meeting of UEFA’s control and disciplinary panel on December 11.
UEFA also confirmed the French club have been fined €15,000 following a near identical incident at the Stade Velodrome in September when Liverpool were also the opponents.
While welcoming UEFA’s decisiveness, Benitez has some sympathy with the French club.
He said: “It is good that UEFA have acted. But the problem is that it is just one person out of thousands who decides to do something like that, so how can you control it? It is not easy to stop these things.
“It is difficult to control everyone, if someone wants to do something like this then it is hard to stop.
“You can fine the club and look for solutions afterwards, but you cannot control everything. But the response of Gerrard was very good.”
Gerrard’s only reaction was to fix a withering look on the Marseille section and then turn away to take a corner.
