Saturday, August 02, 2008

Benitez’s Relief At CL Draw

Rafael Benitez last night expressed his relief as the draw for the final Champions League qualifying round paired his side with Belgians Standard Liege.

The Liverpool manager feared a long away trip would disrupt his preparations for the new season with the opening Premier League game against Sunderland coming potentially just three days after the first leg.

But Liege is only about 500 miles from Liverpool and one of the shortest trips they could have received in yesterday’s draw.

Benitez has already taken his side to three different countries during this pre-season programme, with Rangers next on the agenda at Ibrox today and a friendly still to come in Oslo with Valarenga on Tuesday.

But avoiding a trek to Eastern Europe has given the Spaniard a major boost ahead of the new Premier League season.

He said: “I think there are two very important things about this draw. Firstly, the second game is at home which is really, really important. Clearly that makes a massive difference to play the deciding game in front of our own fans.

“I’m also pleased because the travelling isn’t a problem. We don’t have to go too far which is good news, especially when you look at some of the teams we could have drawn.”

Although Benitez is satisfied with the location, he won’t be as laid back about the opposition, who won their first Belgian league title for 25 years last season.

“People may say it’s a kind draw for us but we will treat them with respect,” said Benitez. “We know some things about their team already but we will now watch more videos and get reports from our scouts before the first game.

“Of course we know about Oguchi Onyewu because he spent some time with Newcastle. Axel Witsel is a good young player and Wilfried Dalmat is probably the best player in their team.

“Alexandre Da Silva is a good defender as well, so we know they won’t be easy opposition for us.

“Overall though it is a good draw and we are happy.”

Onyewu had a short spell at Newcastle in the 2006-07 season and although it was largely unsuccessful, he was impressive in their 2-1 victory over Liverpool at St James’s Park.

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