by red37 » Sat Dec 16, 2006 8:19 pm
Back on topic. and here an interesting article from todays Indy:
'You are not better than us' Benitez warns Barcelona
By Sam Wallace, Football Correspondent
Published: 16 December 2006
For a Madrileno it is the ultimate grudge match, but when you have also triumphed over them as manager of Valencia, then playing Barcelona in the Champions' League's last 16 takes on another dimension altogether.
Rafael Benitez said yesterday that his Liverpool team did not fear the European champions and relished their role as underdogs in the most engrossing tie of the next round for the English participants.
"They [Barcelona] think it's a good draw and that they are better than us," Benitez said. "They will have a lot of confidence, but you will see a big difference in our players at this level."
Liverpool's Spanish manager also said that the many messages and calls he had already received from friends in Barcelona suggested a degree of over-confidence in the reigning champions.
Benitez may say he is bullish about his side's prospects against Ronaldinho, Lionel Messi, Deco and Samuel Eto'o, when he returns to fitness, but he is entitled to feel like the unlucky one when he looks at who the other English teams have drawn. Manchester United have arguably the round's easiest opponents, Lille, to whom they lost last season in Paris. Also in February, Arsenal face PSV Eindhoven while Jose Mourinho goes back to Porto with Chelsea.
From the British sides, only Celtic, who face Milan, share Liverpool's status as underdogs. "The draw was not kind and not unkind," Arsène Wenger said, although it was certainly unkindest to Liverpool.
There have been some of the greatest European nights in English football at Anfield but few as demoralising as the last time Barcelona visited and inflicted a 3-1 defeat on Gérard Houllier's side in the group stages of the competition in November 2001. Having beaten them in the Uefa Cup the previous year, Houllier was then famously accused of "betraying football" by the Spanish media when he played for a goalless draw in the Nou Camp the following March.
No such worries for Benitez, who talked yesterday about his own experience of winning at the Nou Camp with Valencia who, he said, were the Catalan club's bogey team for years. "There is a big difference between this draw and the knockout stage last season and I think it suits us," Benitez said. "Everyone said Benfica would be easy; now they are saying Barcelona will be impossible. Perfect. It was the same against Juventus, Chelsea and Milan two years ago. We have nothing to lose so we can focus only on our game and just play our football.
"I saw on the television before the draw so many people in Barcelona hoping to get Liverpool. I didn't see the draw itself because we were training, but when I came back off the pitch my phone was full of messages and missed calls from people in Barcelona. They all think it's a good draw and that they are better than us. They will have a lot of confidence, but you will see a big difference in our players at this level."
For Barcelona's pioneering president Joan Laporta, the draw will also allow him to fulfil a long-held ambition to trace the history of Liverpool's other famous cultural export. "It will be a great privilege for me to take in some of Liverpool's musical history," he said. "I can't wait to go to The Cavern and other wonderful places associated with The Beatles. This is the game that I was hoping for."
Champions collide: European Cup winners Liverpool and Barcelona renew hostilities
Liverpool may not be as fearful of Barcelona as anticipated, as in three matches at the Nou Camp they have yet to concede a goal. On their last visit, in March 2002, an uncompromising defensive display helped them to reach the Champions' League knockout stages.
Yesterday's pairing will also rekindle fond memories of the 1976 Uefa Cup semi-final, second leg. Liverpool went into the game leading a Barcelona team boasting Johan Cruyff and Johan Neeskens 1-0 after John Toshack had scored at the Nou Camp.
The return leg was watched by 55,104, still the largest attendance for a European match at Anfield. Phil Thompson doubled Liverpool's advantage when he scrambled in a close-range goal in the 50th minute but Carles Rexach soon equalised. In a tense finish Liverpool held on to progress 2-1 on aggregate.
Bob Paisley's team went on to defeat Club Bruges 4-3 on aggregate in the final.
TITANS of HOPE