'There's not only Sheva'

The European Footballer of the Year poses the main threat to the Merseysiders' hopes of attaining the summit of continental football, but Benitez says focussing solely on Shevchenko would be foolish.

"If you only see Shevchenko it's a big mistake," said the Spaniard. "They have a lot of good players and you must consider them all. We must look at all the players and be aware of them all. We cannot afford to just keep our eyes on Shevchenko."

The Ukrainian - who has three goals in the competition this season - is likely to line up alongside either Hernan Crespo or Pippo Inzaghi with Brazilian wizard Kakà prompting just behind to form a fearsome attacking triumvirate.

But having already upset the odds by overcoming Italian champions Juventus and highly-fancied Chelsea, Benitez was in bullish mood as he dimissed suggestions his side did not deserve to be in Istanbul.

"I will say again that if anyone wants to look at our videos of the Champions League games, they will see we have played very well," said Benitez, who remained tight-lipped over his strategy to disrupt an imposing-looking Milan side.

"Each team is different. We have a different team and maybe we cannot do the same things as PSV Eindhoven did against Milan. We will try to do the things that are good for us and bad for AC Milan. We will try to see the weak points of AC Milan and try to beat them," said the former Valencia boss.

"We know how important the game will be for us and for the club but we don't have any anxiety, we have confidence. We have nothing to lose and a lot of things to win, so we will try to do our best."