DIRK KUYT has warned that Liverpool’s luck will run out if they continue to under-perform – resulting in an early Champions League exit.
Yesterday’s draw for the group stages paired Fernando Torres with his former club, Atletico Madrid, who finished fourth in La Liga last season.
Dutch champions PSV Eindhoven are also in Group D as well as Marseille, who shocked Liverpool 1-0 in the group stages at Anfield last season.
In fact, it was only a victory in France in the final group game that saw Liverpool through to the knockout stages.
And Kuyt fears a similar struggle this time after it took his late extra-time goal to break the deadlock against Standard Liege in the third qualifying round this week, following another underwhelming Liverpool display.
“One day your luck will run out and then we will have to perform really well to win,” said Kuyt.
“Of course if we play like that in the group stages we will be in danger of not progressing.
“We all know what happened last year in the group stages and we just want to improve as quickly as possible.
“We know it was not the quality we want to show. Off the pitch we are speaking with each other about this because we want to improve.
“We are going to improve, but it has to be quickly because one time our luck will run out.”
The game with Atletico will also see a reunion for Luis Garcia with his former club, as he moved to Madrid shortly after Torres made the switch in the other direction in the summer of 2007.
Ex-Liverpool forward Florent Sinama-Pongolle is also in their squad as well as established internationals Maniche, Diego Forlan, captain Maxi Rodriguez, Tomas Ujfalusi and Simao.
Atletico haven’t played in the Champions League since they reached the quarter-finals in 1997 but showed their pedigree with a 4-0 win over Schalke 04 on Wednesday
to secure their place in the group stages with a 4-1 aggregate victory.
The group as whole should hold little fear, however. Liverpool brushed aside PSV in both the groups and the last 16 on their way to the 2007 final and Marseille were easily beaten 4-0 on their own turf once Liverpool had regained their foothold in the group.
But with Standard occasionally threatening to pull off another Anfield surprise on Wednesday, Kuyt is only too aware that Liverpool need to up their game once again.
However, he feels the character and belief they showed to ensure their progress can act as a platform for improvement – which is much-needed with a trip to Aston Villa in the Premier League looming on Sunday
“It was a very difficult match for us, but we showed belief in ourselves and kept working hard,” said Kuyt. “We got our goal and we’re in the Champions League.
“We all want to play really well as a team. We haven’t given our best performance so far, but we are working very hard in training every day to progress.
“We know we have to progress. Maybe we have had a lot of luck so far, but we know we are going to improve, but to do that we have to change things and quickly.
“We know that we have to get much better and we will. We know we have the quality. I think the good thing is that even when we are not playing well, we fight for each other.
“We just want to improve as quickly as possible, starting with Aston Villa on Sunday.”
Yesterday’s draw for the group stages paired Fernando Torres with his former club, Atletico Madrid, who finished fourth in La Liga last season.
Dutch champions PSV Eindhoven are also in Group D as well as Marseille, who shocked Liverpool 1-0 in the group stages at Anfield last season.
In fact, it was only a victory in France in the final group game that saw Liverpool through to the knockout stages.
And Kuyt fears a similar struggle this time after it took his late extra-time goal to break the deadlock against Standard Liege in the third qualifying round this week, following another underwhelming Liverpool display.
“One day your luck will run out and then we will have to perform really well to win,” said Kuyt.
“Of course if we play like that in the group stages we will be in danger of not progressing.
“We all know what happened last year in the group stages and we just want to improve as quickly as possible.
“We know it was not the quality we want to show. Off the pitch we are speaking with each other about this because we want to improve.
“We are going to improve, but it has to be quickly because one time our luck will run out.”
The game with Atletico will also see a reunion for Luis Garcia with his former club, as he moved to Madrid shortly after Torres made the switch in the other direction in the summer of 2007.
Ex-Liverpool forward Florent Sinama-Pongolle is also in their squad as well as established internationals Maniche, Diego Forlan, captain Maxi Rodriguez, Tomas Ujfalusi and Simao.
Atletico haven’t played in the Champions League since they reached the quarter-finals in 1997 but showed their pedigree with a 4-0 win over Schalke 04 on Wednesday
to secure their place in the group stages with a 4-1 aggregate victory.
The group as whole should hold little fear, however. Liverpool brushed aside PSV in both the groups and the last 16 on their way to the 2007 final and Marseille were easily beaten 4-0 on their own turf once Liverpool had regained their foothold in the group.
But with Standard occasionally threatening to pull off another Anfield surprise on Wednesday, Kuyt is only too aware that Liverpool need to up their game once again.
However, he feels the character and belief they showed to ensure their progress can act as a platform for improvement – which is much-needed with a trip to Aston Villa in the Premier League looming on Sunday
“It was a very difficult match for us, but we showed belief in ourselves and kept working hard,” said Kuyt. “We got our goal and we’re in the Champions League.
“We all want to play really well as a team. We haven’t given our best performance so far, but we are working very hard in training every day to progress.
“We know we have to progress. Maybe we have had a lot of luck so far, but we know we are going to improve, but to do that we have to change things and quickly.
“We know that we have to get much better and we will. We know we have the quality. I think the good thing is that even when we are not playing well, we fight for each other.
“We just want to improve as quickly as possible, starting with Aston Villa on Sunday.”
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