Ahead of the final knockout game in the last 16 of the Champions League, Liverpool striker Fernando Torres has said he is confident of his side progressing past Italian champions Internazionale, revealing that his side will play deep and hit on the counterattack.
It was a curious night at Anfield two weeks ago when, while Liverpool were dominating, they failed to break down a resilient Inter defensive line, with the Italian side looking to take what they could from the first leg on the counterattack back to the San Siro.
However, the game took a dramatic turn for the worst as far as Nerazzurri fans were concerned when Marco Materazzi was sent off for two dubious yellow cards in the first half — both alleged fouls on Torres, who was all too willing to go to ground on the night.
Little in the game changed until fellow star defender Ivan Cordoba — who had a particularly star-worthy performance on the night — went off with an injury which has subsequently ended the Colombian's season.
It was then — and Liverpool still left it very, very late — that the deadlock was broken, with Dirk Kuyt's deflected shot and Steve Gerrard's drilled beauty almost certainly put the tie beyond doubt, to the delight of the capacity Anfield crowd who have thus far endured a miserable season on all other fronts.
That victory has galvanised Rafael Benitez's side and they have now won six on the bounce, with Torres in particular hitting devastating form with two hat-tricks in his past three games.
That won't be on his agenda on Tuesday, however, as the Spanish star has openly admitted that, perhaps understandably, his side will be looking to play deep against Inter and look to not conceding as more of a priority than scoring themselves, knowing a 1-0 or 3-1 loss would still see them through to the quarterfinals.
"Now we can look to the Inter Milan game with confidence," he declared. "It is a very important game for us, and we must keep this form going.
"We are confident of progressing in the competition in the San Siro. We had an excellent victory against Inter at Anfield, and we know if we score one goal in Milan it makes it very difficult for them, already 2-0 behind.
"They are one of the best teams in Europe at the moment, but we are confident.
"We expect to play deep and try for the counter-attack, and although we know Inter are a good team the first goal is very important.
"If we score first it will be difficult for them to score four times."
If Liverpool do qualify as is expected, they will make up a full complement of English teams, with all four that entered the competition making it to the last eight, with no other country occupying more than one place. The usually successful Spain and Italy have just Barcelona and Roma, whereas Schalke represent Germany and Fenerbache represent Turkey amongst the rest.
It was a curious night at Anfield two weeks ago when, while Liverpool were dominating, they failed to break down a resilient Inter defensive line, with the Italian side looking to take what they could from the first leg on the counterattack back to the San Siro.
However, the game took a dramatic turn for the worst as far as Nerazzurri fans were concerned when Marco Materazzi was sent off for two dubious yellow cards in the first half — both alleged fouls on Torres, who was all too willing to go to ground on the night.
Little in the game changed until fellow star defender Ivan Cordoba — who had a particularly star-worthy performance on the night — went off with an injury which has subsequently ended the Colombian's season.
It was then — and Liverpool still left it very, very late — that the deadlock was broken, with Dirk Kuyt's deflected shot and Steve Gerrard's drilled beauty almost certainly put the tie beyond doubt, to the delight of the capacity Anfield crowd who have thus far endured a miserable season on all other fronts.
That victory has galvanised Rafael Benitez's side and they have now won six on the bounce, with Torres in particular hitting devastating form with two hat-tricks in his past three games.
That won't be on his agenda on Tuesday, however, as the Spanish star has openly admitted that, perhaps understandably, his side will be looking to play deep against Inter and look to not conceding as more of a priority than scoring themselves, knowing a 1-0 or 3-1 loss would still see them through to the quarterfinals.
"Now we can look to the Inter Milan game with confidence," he declared. "It is a very important game for us, and we must keep this form going.
"We are confident of progressing in the competition in the San Siro. We had an excellent victory against Inter at Anfield, and we know if we score one goal in Milan it makes it very difficult for them, already 2-0 behind.
"They are one of the best teams in Europe at the moment, but we are confident.
"We expect to play deep and try for the counter-attack, and although we know Inter are a good team the first goal is very important.
"If we score first it will be difficult for them to score four times."
If Liverpool do qualify as is expected, they will make up a full complement of English teams, with all four that entered the competition making it to the last eight, with no other country occupying more than one place. The usually successful Spain and Italy have just Barcelona and Roma, whereas Schalke represent Germany and Fenerbache represent Turkey amongst the rest.
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