Rafa Benitez admits he would see it as a personal failure if Liverpool never won the Premier League title under his charge.
Liverpool are looking to end a 20-year wait to win the league title with their last success coming in 1990.
The Spaniard has been accused of putting European aspirations above domestic success, but Benitez insists he would rather win the Premier League than another Champions League crown.
“Anyone who knows me knows that I want to win every trophy, every game,” Benitez told The Times.
“But if you ask me what I prefer, I will say the Premier League.
“If I do not win the title, I’m sure I’d be so disappointed maybe I would have this feeling [of failure].”
Benitez also admitted that his title aspirations last season suffered a blow when the club failed to sign Gareth Barry from Aston Villa.
Barry ended up staying at Villa and he has since ended up moving to Manchester City.
Benitez believes missing out on Barry also had a detrimental impact on Robbie Keane’s time at Anfield.
Keane last just six months at Liverpool last season before being sold back to Tottenham.
“The plan was for Barry to play on the left and feed the ball to Robbie Keane, who would play up front with Fernando Torres,” added Benitez.
“This blueprint had to be scrapped. The collateral damage was Keane, who signed from Tottenham Hotspur before the Barry deal had been done.
“When we wanted to sign Barry, we were sure we were signing a good player with a very good mentality and the quality to play in the Premier League. The priority was Barry, then Keane.”
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