It seems the Fleet Street hacks cannot get enough of Rafael Benitez on Thursday as they continue to scavange on the Liverpool boss' carcass.

No paper leaves the story alone, with everyone eager to throw a punch or two.

In The Sun, Phil Thomas thinks he's worked out what will eventually cost Rafa his job.

At approximately 9.30pm on Tuesday, Rafa Benitez entered a dead-end street. When the fourth official held up the No 15, signalling the end of Yossi Benayoun's evening against Lyon, a chorus of boos boomed around Anfield which could well prove the most crucial turning-point of all.

Since arriving at Liverpool in 2004, Benitez has got out of jail so many times it has become something of an art form.

Backed into a corner in Europe, the Premier League or the boardroom, the single-minded Spaniard has constantly come out fighting - and won.

This time, though, the battle is a lot more serious. The battle to convince a steadily growing number of Koppites he is indeed the Messiah, as they so want to believe.

That single act of hauling off Benayoun in the dying minutes of their side's 2-1 defeat, saw the crowd, almost to a man, round on the leader they have backed so ferociously.

Meanwhile over at the Daily Mail, Matt Lawton believes there is nowhere for Rafa to turn after he took full control of all matters at Anfield, followed the battle for power with Rick Parry.

With power comes responsibility and few managers in Europe have the power Rafa Benitez enjoys at Liverpool.

He played hardball and won when it came to the renegotiation of his contract
back in March, gaining control of all transfer business in what proved a particularly bloody power struggle.

When Benitez is blamed for a lack of depth in his squad, he could point to Parry’s failure to close the transfer deals that would have secured the quality players who the club so clearly need.

But it is no good blaming Parry when he is no longer there and the former chief executive of the Premier League could just as easily point to the 76 players Benitez has managed to sign since arriving at Anfield in the summer of 2004. He could also argue that if the absence of Fernando Torres means David Ngog has to lead the attack against Lyon, it is down to a Spaniard who has spent more than £220million in the transfer market.

But results need to improve and they need to improve fast, otherwise Benitez will have to pay the price for failure and his failure to strengthen a side that pushed United so close in last season’s title race. He accepted that responsibility when he seized total control.

Who are those 76 players? The Daily Mail reveals all.

The Daily Telegraph picks out several mishaps by Rafa, including Robbie Keane, Alberto Aquilani and Xabi Alonso.

In the Independent, James Lawton agrees that a failure to appreciate Alonso will cost Rafa.

Xabi Alonso plays for Real Madrid now of course, and it is impossible to detach this bleak development for Liverpool with what is becoming increasingly evident as one of the two great flaws in Benitez's competitive persona. One is that he too rarely – and at Anfield now there is the cumulative evidence presented by 68 signings – recognises the quality of a player who can give so much more to the team than the sum of his individual talent. The other is that when he gets one, supremely in the case of the gifted Alonso, he signally fails to cherish him.

On to The Times and Tony Cascarino cannot see any way out of this mess for Rafa - because the squad isn't good enough.

And to bring the curtain down on this extra-special paper review, we head to The Guardian where David Conn claims Rafa's failure will create long-term problems.

It is ... impossible to put a figure on what Liverpool might lose out on if they fail to qualify from their group, but last season, when they reached the quarter-final while Arsenal and Chelsea reached the semi-final and United the final, the knockout stage was worth around €8m (£7.2m) to Liverpool. This season, the cost would be greater, because Uefa has provisionally announced an increase in Champions League TV and sponsorship deals, from €820m to €1.05bn (£950m). It is safe to say that if Liverpool were to be knocked out, they would fall markedly behind financially, especially if the other three clubs go through.

Failing to qualify at all for next season's competition, a prospect nobody at Anfield is prepared to contemplate with barely two months of the season gone, would involve missing out on a very important slice of Liverpool's income. Last season's earnings were €23.2m from Uefa directly, plus unspecified income earned at Anfield from the Champions League matches themselves, and the money available next season, which four English clubs will certainly be earning, will be almost 25% higher.