It is not easy waiting to play your UEFA Champions League quarter-final when seven of the eight places have already been decided. Liverpool FC have had an extra week before concluding their tie with FC Internazionale Milano, and with three English sides already through, the onus is on the 2005 champions to join them.
"It's something I've never experienced before," Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard tells uefa.com. "But we've just got to get over that final hurdle and get ourselves into that draw. Some fantastic teams have qualified already and it would be nice to join them." Speaking the morning after his side's 4-0 defeat of West Ham United FC, the trip to the San Siro cannot come soon enough. It is one of the few great European stadiums Gerrard has never played at and he is eager to return to the competition that has brought him and the club so much success.
Patience, though, has been the buzz word of the tie. Liverpool were made to wait for the two late goals that finally beat Inter at Anfield and have had to wait again as they look to finish the job in Italy. "You just have to keep going all the way to the end," says Gerrard, who once again struck when it mattered most in the dying seconds against Inter. "A lot of goals in football are scored late on when teams are tired, especially when teams are down to ten men, like against Inter [following Marco Materazzi's 30th-minute dismissal]. We had to be patient. A 1-0 lead is a good enough result but 2-0, that's the icing on the cake. It gives us a good cushion and confidence is really high for the second leg, but this tie is not over yet."
Former Reds have been drilling that point home, particularly those that played in the 1965 semi-final when Liverpool were knocked out by Inter after winning the first leg 3-1 at Anfield. "We can learn an awful lot from what they're saying," Gerrard says. "They say the tie is not over and that we've got to go and perform just as well as we did at Anfield. That's the message, from me the captain to the rest of the boys: we can't go there thinking we've got this tie won. We've got a really difficult 90 minutes ahead of us."
Liverpool fans will not be taking anything for granted. Inconsistency in the Premier League and the pain of their FA Cup defeat by Barnsley FC have made sure of that. Since that nadir, though, Rafael Benítez's men have risen again. Victory against Inter was followed by three straight league wins and the brilliant form of Fernando Torres has got the Kop buzzing again. Gerrard too is thriving, playing in behind the Spaniard, whose hat-trick against West Ham took him to 24 goals for the season. Following his treble against Middlesbrough FC, it was the first time a Liverpool player had scored back-to-back hat-tricks at home in 62 years.
"Yeah, I'm enjoying it," Gerrard says. "Playing behind Fernando Torres is always a pleasure. Fernando's on fire. He just gives me so many options when I turn and have space. His direct running and good movement in that role helps me an awful lot and with [Xabi] Alonso and Javier Mascherano tidying up behind me, I think this team is looking really strong. With players like Fernando, Ryan Babbel, Dirk Kuyt and with the way I'm playing myself, we've got a great chance going forward to cause Inter Milan some problems. I think we've got to be positive there. A goal virtually kills the tie. We need to obviously be very strong defensively, but with a game plan of going forward to try and cause them problems like we did at home."
Gerrard's committed approach has won him fans far beyond his native Liverpool. He was voted into uefa.com's Team of the Year for the third year in succession after leading Liverpool to the 2007 UEFA Champions League final and was also chosen to captain the side. "It's a surprise to be captain of that team with so many top, top players," Gerrard said. "It's a fantastic honour, especially because it is voted for by the supporters. To get in the team full of star names and big, big players for the third year running is a big achievement and I'm really proud of that."
Gerrard has had much to be proud of this year, including being named as England captain for new manager Fabio Capello's first match last month. Seeing off the Italian champions would be further cause for celebration, something that did not look likely after Liverpool collected just one point from their first three games in the group stage. Since then they have won four in a row, scoring 18 and conceding just once. Gerrard admits: "We were guilty of being slightly over-confident in the group. As a team, we thought it was going to be easy and that we would easily top the group but Marseille, Porto and Beşiktaş caused us some problems and made it a really difficult group to get out of. That emphatic 8-0 win against Beşiktaş gave us a lot of confidence."
Gerrard is determined to ensure there is no complacency on Tuesday. Having led Liverpool to the European crown in 2005 then back to the final last term, the 27-year-old knows what it takes to succeed. "Hard work and a little bit of luck along the way. This team knows what's needed to get to the final, we're experienced and we realise it's going to be difficult. But you've got to be confident, believe it can happen and go and make the most of it. We've got a fantastic chance of going through to the last eight and we can't let that slip through our fingers."
Particularly with three English clubs already there. "If we qualify against Inter, that's four teams out of eight so no one can argue with the fact that the Premiership's been the strongest league this year. And I think it's going to get even stronger. I know a lot of players around Europe want to play in this league so it is only going to get better. [Arsenal beating Milan] was a surprise. Arsenal were fantastic on the night. When they got drawn together, I thought Arsenal would come unstuck against Milan because of the experience I have had playing against them. They're a fantastic team, a difficult team to beat, so I think Arsenal deserve a lot of credit."
Gerrard knows that better than most. A 2-1 defeat by the Rossoneri in the Athens final last May provides motivation to go out and reclaim the trophy, but it is the taste of victory in 2005 that most spurs on the Liverpool talisman. "It is great memories, memories I'll never forget. It was the best night of my footballing career so far – I'd love nothing better than to go and achieve it again."
"It's something I've never experienced before," Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard tells uefa.com. "But we've just got to get over that final hurdle and get ourselves into that draw. Some fantastic teams have qualified already and it would be nice to join them." Speaking the morning after his side's 4-0 defeat of West Ham United FC, the trip to the San Siro cannot come soon enough. It is one of the few great European stadiums Gerrard has never played at and he is eager to return to the competition that has brought him and the club so much success.
Patience, though, has been the buzz word of the tie. Liverpool were made to wait for the two late goals that finally beat Inter at Anfield and have had to wait again as they look to finish the job in Italy. "You just have to keep going all the way to the end," says Gerrard, who once again struck when it mattered most in the dying seconds against Inter. "A lot of goals in football are scored late on when teams are tired, especially when teams are down to ten men, like against Inter [following Marco Materazzi's 30th-minute dismissal]. We had to be patient. A 1-0 lead is a good enough result but 2-0, that's the icing on the cake. It gives us a good cushion and confidence is really high for the second leg, but this tie is not over yet."
Former Reds have been drilling that point home, particularly those that played in the 1965 semi-final when Liverpool were knocked out by Inter after winning the first leg 3-1 at Anfield. "We can learn an awful lot from what they're saying," Gerrard says. "They say the tie is not over and that we've got to go and perform just as well as we did at Anfield. That's the message, from me the captain to the rest of the boys: we can't go there thinking we've got this tie won. We've got a really difficult 90 minutes ahead of us."
Liverpool fans will not be taking anything for granted. Inconsistency in the Premier League and the pain of their FA Cup defeat by Barnsley FC have made sure of that. Since that nadir, though, Rafael Benítez's men have risen again. Victory against Inter was followed by three straight league wins and the brilliant form of Fernando Torres has got the Kop buzzing again. Gerrard too is thriving, playing in behind the Spaniard, whose hat-trick against West Ham took him to 24 goals for the season. Following his treble against Middlesbrough FC, it was the first time a Liverpool player had scored back-to-back hat-tricks at home in 62 years.
"Yeah, I'm enjoying it," Gerrard says. "Playing behind Fernando Torres is always a pleasure. Fernando's on fire. He just gives me so many options when I turn and have space. His direct running and good movement in that role helps me an awful lot and with [Xabi] Alonso and Javier Mascherano tidying up behind me, I think this team is looking really strong. With players like Fernando, Ryan Babbel, Dirk Kuyt and with the way I'm playing myself, we've got a great chance going forward to cause Inter Milan some problems. I think we've got to be positive there. A goal virtually kills the tie. We need to obviously be very strong defensively, but with a game plan of going forward to try and cause them problems like we did at home."
Gerrard's committed approach has won him fans far beyond his native Liverpool. He was voted into uefa.com's Team of the Year for the third year in succession after leading Liverpool to the 2007 UEFA Champions League final and was also chosen to captain the side. "It's a surprise to be captain of that team with so many top, top players," Gerrard said. "It's a fantastic honour, especially because it is voted for by the supporters. To get in the team full of star names and big, big players for the third year running is a big achievement and I'm really proud of that."
Gerrard has had much to be proud of this year, including being named as England captain for new manager Fabio Capello's first match last month. Seeing off the Italian champions would be further cause for celebration, something that did not look likely after Liverpool collected just one point from their first three games in the group stage. Since then they have won four in a row, scoring 18 and conceding just once. Gerrard admits: "We were guilty of being slightly over-confident in the group. As a team, we thought it was going to be easy and that we would easily top the group but Marseille, Porto and Beşiktaş caused us some problems and made it a really difficult group to get out of. That emphatic 8-0 win against Beşiktaş gave us a lot of confidence."
Gerrard is determined to ensure there is no complacency on Tuesday. Having led Liverpool to the European crown in 2005 then back to the final last term, the 27-year-old knows what it takes to succeed. "Hard work and a little bit of luck along the way. This team knows what's needed to get to the final, we're experienced and we realise it's going to be difficult. But you've got to be confident, believe it can happen and go and make the most of it. We've got a fantastic chance of going through to the last eight and we can't let that slip through our fingers."
Particularly with three English clubs already there. "If we qualify against Inter, that's four teams out of eight so no one can argue with the fact that the Premiership's been the strongest league this year. And I think it's going to get even stronger. I know a lot of players around Europe want to play in this league so it is only going to get better. [Arsenal beating Milan] was a surprise. Arsenal were fantastic on the night. When they got drawn together, I thought Arsenal would come unstuck against Milan because of the experience I have had playing against them. They're a fantastic team, a difficult team to beat, so I think Arsenal deserve a lot of credit."
Gerrard knows that better than most. A 2-1 defeat by the Rossoneri in the Athens final last May provides motivation to go out and reclaim the trophy, but it is the taste of victory in 2005 that most spurs on the Liverpool talisman. "It is great memories, memories I'll never forget. It was the best night of my footballing career so far – I'd love nothing better than to go and achieve it again."
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