Liverpool used Tuesday night's Champions League match against Inter Milan to prove they are a better team than their recent results have suggested, according to striker Dirk Kuyt.

Having been dumped out of the FA Cup at home to Barnsley on Saturday, success in Europe presents the only chance of silverware for Rafael Benitez's side this season.

The manager and the players have been criticised for under-performing, dropping out of the Barclays Premier League's top four and falling 19 points behind leaders Arsenal.

Inter Milan presented one of the toughest tests in the Champions League last 16 but were despatched 2-0 in the first leg at Anfield after Marco Materazzi was sent off after 30 minutes.

And Kuyt said that performance proved how good the team could be.

"I think that is the magic of football. You lose four days ago against Barnsley when everybody is expecting you to beat them easily and you see a whole different team (against Inter) with a lot of the same players," said the Holland international.

"We haven't played well the last few games but we know how we have to play in the big games, especially the Champions League games, and we used that.

"All the players worked really hard as a team and we had confidence in ourselves because we know we have a lot of quality in the team and we showed that.

"Everyone I have spoken to, especially the Dutch people at big clubs in Europe like AC Milan and (Real) Madrid, know how good Liverpool can be.

"We haven't shown it the last couple of months but we still want to be there and we have a game to go [in this tie].

"If we can go really far in the Champions League like last year (when they were runners-up to AC Milan) it will be great. We have the quality, we only have to show it on the pitch.

"We just want to keep looking forward and not too much in the past."

Having gone two months without a goal, Kuyt has now scored in successive matches, getting the first against Inter in the 85th minute before Steven Gerrard added a late second.

"The most important thing is to keep patient and wait for the one chance and I was really thankful I scored," added the Dutchman.

"I am really happy with that. It was a great moment. I had a difficult period behind me, now I just want to look forward now."

More news from SportingLife.com