Rafa calls for strong refereeing April 29 2008
Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez is hoping the referee in charge of Wednesday's UEFA Champions League decider against Chelsea gives his side a fair deal.
Italian official Roberto Rossetti has controlled five Champions League matches this season. All ended in home wins, with one exception - the Blues' win over Valencia in Spain in October.
The Premier League rivals go into the semi-final second leg at Stamford Bridge level, after John Arne Riise's injury-time own goal last week gave Avram Grant's men a 1-1 draw at Anfield.
Benitez said: "In the last six games in Europe he has refereed, five times the local team have won and once they haven't. That was Valencia against Chelsea - it's very curious.
"If he knows he must be strong, that is okay."
The Spaniard was also critical of Austrian referee Konrad Plautz for giving so much added time in the first leg.
And Benitez added: "I'm not bothered about how I'm judged - I'm more bothered about how we progress in the competition.
"We have focus and now we are trying to go to the final. We must do the right things."
Riise, meanwhile, insists he has the mental strength to atone for his blunder if given the chance by Benitez in the return leg in London.
The Norwegian international, who was back in the Spaniard's starting line-up at Birmingham on Saturday, is eager to help the Reds progress to the Champions League final in Moscow and claims he is totally over the disappointment of scoring that crucial own goal.
"We had a day off the day after the game and I went through things in my head then," Riise told the club's official website.
"I just went home and I didn't want to speak to anyone, I just had to think about it myself. I realised you just have to move on and now I think I have. All you can do is focus on upcoming games, not ones that have gone before.
"For me the biggest thing was the timing of the goal, the last kick of the game and such an important game too. That was the most disappointing thing for me and everyone in the team.
"But mentally I am very strong anyway and I managed to get things quickly out of my mind. Coming back on Saturday was all that mattered to me and now it's Wednesday - just thinking about doing well if I get the chance there.
"Nobody wants to score an own goal but people make mistakes - and nobody will blame me if it's 0-0 on Wednesday and we don't go through.
"But nobody is even thinking about that, we are going to try and get a win and hopefully we will get it. Then the first leg result and the own goal won't matter.
"We know we can do it. It's a case of going there, having a go and knowing we can score. We are positive and know we can get a result."