Gerrard ultimatum raises European stakes for Liverpool

Liverpool are faced with two simple equations this morning. Beat Olympiakos or go out of the Champions' League. Make radical improvements or see Steven Gerrard leave Anfield in the summer.

Both would be disastrous but the loss of their captain, who yesterday indicated he could no longer wait for the club to drag itself up slowly, would shake Anfield to its core. It was Gerrard's threat to leave - with Chelsea the most obvious suitors - as last season reached its climax that triggered the end of Gérard Houllier's regime and his decision to remain that legitimised the rule of the Frenchman's successor, Rafael Benitez.

That Gerrard is a Liverpool fan, raised in the uncompromising streets of Huyton, was a factor behind his remaining on Merseyside, but should Liverpool continue to stumble in the Premiership, and especially in Europe, sentiment will not be enough a second time around.

"I am 25 in the summer and I think I have got six or seven years to win things at the top level and so the turnaround will have to happen quite quickly," he said yesterday. "Maybe me leaving will hurt the fans more because I am a local lad, because I am the captain. I am in a difficult situation because I am a fan myself and I want to win things with this club. But I haven't got time on my side. I have got six or seven years left to be successful and I can't wait three or four years for the club to turn itself around into a title-winning side... But we are eighth in the table and 10 or 12 points off the lead."

Actually, they are seventh and the gap is 15 points but should Liverpool, who last week announced a record loss of £21.9m, fail to make the knock-out stages of the Champions' League, it will undermine Benitez's room for manoeuvre in next month's transfer window, with Gerrard insisting there is still much rebuilding to be done. Asked if some serious spending in January would be enough to persuade him to stay, he replied: "We will have to wait and see. If the team is successful and moving forward, I won't need to go anywhere else. If things are not looking good, I'll have to see what happens in the summer.

"I want to win medals and, hopefully, I will have a big family by the time I am 34 or 35 and I want medals to show them. It would mean more to me to be successful with Liverpool; everybody knows that. I have supported the club all my life and if from now until the end of the season the club can show me that they are as ambitious as I am and we can win trophies together, then..." His voice tailed off.

Although there is still deep respect between Gerrard and Benitez, the gulf in their outlook was emphasised when each was asked what dropping into the Uefa Cup would mean. Benitez thought it "was not the end of the world" and, if Liverpool won the trophy, it might be seen as something quite fortuitous.

Gerrard disagreed. "It would be a disaster to be in the Uefa Cup. No disrespect, but I've already won it and played in it three or four times. I don't settle for second best and the Champions' League is where I want to be."

To make it to this season's knock-out stages, Liverpool have to beat Olympiakos either 1-0 or by two clear goals. If they win and Monaco lose or draw at Deportivo La Coruña, who are already eliminated and have not managed a goal in the competition, Liverpool will qualify as group winners. If Liverpool and Monaco win, Olympiakos will find themselves out of the Champions' League with 10 points.

On their return from Monaco last month, Liverpool looked washed out; already without their main strikers, Djibril Cissé and Milan Baros, they had lost Luis Garcia after a couple of minutes, then Josemi with a head injury and then the match. Dietmar Hamann's booking in the Stade Louis II ensured he is suspended for this evening.

Liverpool (probable, 4-4-1-1): Kirkland; Finnan, Carragher, Hyypia, Traoré; Nunez, Biscan, Gerrard, Riise; Kewell; Baros.

Olympiakos (probable, 4-4-1-1): Nikopolidis; Pantos, Venetidis, Schurrer, Anatolakis; Stoltidis, Kafes, Georgiadis, Djordjevic; Rivaldo; Giovanni.

Referee: M Gonzalez (Spain).