Benitez stoked controversy by claiming United boss Sir Alex Ferguson showed no respect to referees and that they benefited from having chief executive David Gill on the Football Association board.

Torres backed his manager's right to speak out but said he did not believe United had gained any particular advantage.

The 24-year-old said: "I think when you win a tournament like the Premier League you deserve to win. I don't think you win the league because of a referee or some decision.

"He [Benitez] has been here six years and he feels these things but I don't feel it.

"He thinks that he has to say those things about Ferguson because he thinks that, I don't know why, but he has all our support.

"We are with our manager if he thinks we are not in the same position as Man U with some things."

Torres believes Benitez's success as a manager with Valencia, where he broke the dominance of Real Madrid and Barcelona in Spain, stands Liverpool in good stead for this title race.

He added: "He can compete with anyone, he won the Spanish league with Valencia after 15 years when it was just Real Madrid and Barcelona fighting for the title.

"Now he's enjoying it in Liverpool at a massive club and trying to do the same here as he did at Valencia.

"But I think Rafa Benitez is more English now than a Spanish manager, he learns a lot every day from the players like Stevie [Gerrard] and Carra [Jamie Carragher] and we are learning too."

Torres said he knew that most Liverpool fans would choose victory in the league over another Champions League title.

"From the first day I arrived in Liverpool I knew how important it is to win the Premier League for Liverpool fans," he said.

"You never know when you will have another opportunity and we are in a good position.

"Maybe for players who have played for Liverpool a long time it's pressure, but not for us. This is just my second season and I want to win a trophy for Liverpool, that's why I came here, and I want to be in the team that won the league after 20 years and be part of Liverpool's history.

"We have players who will have won all the trophies apart from the Premier League - they will have won the Champions League, the FA Cup, the Carling Cup and the UEFA Cup and not too many players can say that.

"We want to win the Premier League even more for people like Stevie, Carra and Sammy Lee."