my liverpool fc

Liverpool midfielder Javier Mascherano admits "every game is a final" in the Champions League after the Reds failed to win their opening two group games.

Rafael Benitez's side are languishing in third place in Group A having drawn in Porto and lost at home to Marseille.

Their position is far from irretrievable but Argentina midfielder Mascherano is well aware there is little margin for error from now on.

Liverpool travel to Turkey to face Besiktas on Wednesday night in what will be a hostile environment but the 23-year-old insists the Reds will be aiming to take all three points.

"From now on every game is a final - at least in the group stages," he told the club's website.

"We have to get three points, we have no other option.

"With the defeat to Marseille we've made things difficult for ourselves, but a win on Wednesday would go a long way to putting our destiny back in our own hands. We'll certainly be going into the game with a lot of desire and a lot of will to win."

The Reds have struggled to impress on both fronts during Benitez's reign but Mascherano insists there should be no reason why they cannot mount a serious challenge in both the UEFA Champions League and Premier League.

He said: "I think that we've got a big enough squad.

"We have pretty much two players battling for every position, so we're able to battle on all fronts. Things didn't turn out well against Marseille but we can start to turn that around with three points in Istanbul.

"I want to win both. I think the answer is easy - we try to win everything we enter. I know that's difficult, but we really do try to pull out all the stops.

"Our fate is in the hands of Him upstairs, He'll decide what we win. All we can do is give our all."

The former Corinthians midfielder admits nothing but a win will suffice in Istanbul and has no concerns about the atmosphere.

"Absolutely not. We are already playing catch-up in the Champions League because we haven't got our first win, so that's what we need to do.

"I think the manager will have a plan and we might not be going all out attack, but what we certainly will be doing is going there to bring those three points back home.

"It's always great to have the fans behind you but at the end it's just 11 players against 11. What's going on around the pitch shouldn't have too much of an influence. You just have to get on with it."