Rafa Benitez today insisted he will not be making any special plans to deal with the threat posed by Cristiano Ronaldo when Liverpool meet Man United on Sunday.
The Portuguese winger has been imperious form this season and currently tops the scoring charts with 33 goals to his name.
Though he is a confirmed admirer of Ronaldo's talents and is well aware of his ability to win games almost single handed, Benitez does not want to distract his players from the capabilities of United as a team by focusing too much on a single individual.
He said: "We have no special plans because if you start thinking too much about Ronaldo you will forget about Carlos Tevez, Wayne Rooney, Paul Scholes or Ryan Giggs.
"The most important thing for us is to keep our own team working as a team and if we do that maybe United will have to worry about us.
"If you are just watching Ronaldo there is a danger you will lose the others.
"They are a good team with a lot of good players so we need to think about controlling all of them.
"And maybe they are already thinking about Fernando Torres or Steven Gerrard or some of our other players."
The showdown at Old Trafford brings together Torres and Ronaldo, arguably the two best performing players in Britain and beyond this season.
Benitez believes there is very little between the pair but insists he would not swop record signing Torres for anyone.
"They are both really good players and it is very good for the supporters to see them play because they must enjoy watching them," he said.
"But Torres is our player so I would not want to change him."
Meanwhile, Javier Mascherano says he cannot wait for Sunday's game which will be his first visit to Old Trafford as a Liverpool player.
He said: "I did not play in the away game for Liverpool last season because I was still at West Ham.
"I played against them at Anfield this season and I really enjoyed the game even though the result did not go our way.
"I am sure the game on Sunday will be just as tough because United are a good team, but hopefully we will get a better result this time."
The Portuguese winger has been imperious form this season and currently tops the scoring charts with 33 goals to his name.
Though he is a confirmed admirer of Ronaldo's talents and is well aware of his ability to win games almost single handed, Benitez does not want to distract his players from the capabilities of United as a team by focusing too much on a single individual.
He said: "We have no special plans because if you start thinking too much about Ronaldo you will forget about Carlos Tevez, Wayne Rooney, Paul Scholes or Ryan Giggs.
"The most important thing for us is to keep our own team working as a team and if we do that maybe United will have to worry about us.
"If you are just watching Ronaldo there is a danger you will lose the others.
"They are a good team with a lot of good players so we need to think about controlling all of them.
"And maybe they are already thinking about Fernando Torres or Steven Gerrard or some of our other players."
The showdown at Old Trafford brings together Torres and Ronaldo, arguably the two best performing players in Britain and beyond this season.
Benitez believes there is very little between the pair but insists he would not swop record signing Torres for anyone.
"They are both really good players and it is very good for the supporters to see them play because they must enjoy watching them," he said.
"But Torres is our player so I would not want to change him."
Meanwhile, Javier Mascherano says he cannot wait for Sunday's game which will be his first visit to Old Trafford as a Liverpool player.
He said: "I did not play in the away game for Liverpool last season because I was still at West Ham.
"I played against them at Anfield this season and I really enjoyed the game even though the result did not go our way.
"I am sure the game on Sunday will be just as tough because United are a good team, but hopefully we will get a better result this time."
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