Wednesday, August 13, 2008

Rafael Benitez Considers Xabi Alonso For Champions League Game With Standard Liege


From Euro 2008 to Wimbledon and the Tour de France, this has been the summer of the Spaniard and here, in a stadium situated between a steelworks and grassed-over slag heaps, Rafael Benitez launched his own quest for glory.

The Champions League is his banker; the tournament that has earned the manager his place in the Liverpool pantheon. Without the two finals and a semi-final, his finishing positions of fifth, third, third and fourth in the Premier League would not have guaranteed his survival.

Liverpool have had to pre-qualify for the Champions League each time and they set out in Liege, a kind of Belgian Sheffield, in a stadium with a hint of Bramall Lane.

There are those who believe that Benitez's fractured relationship with the club's co-owner, Tom Hicks – this time over the inability to fund Gareth Barry's transfer from Aston Villa – means he is unlikely to make it to the Olympic Stadium in Rome, venue for the final and where Liverpool have won two European Cups.

While acknowledging he has the strongest squad in his four years at Anfield, he would not be drawn on his relationship with Hicks. "I'm not thinking about signing players at the moment, because they cannot play against Standard Liege," said Benitez. "I'm only concentrating on this game. And I have not needed to contact the owners because they cannot help with the preparation for this. I prefer not to say anything else."

He suggested he might start Xabi Alonso. Since it was the failure to sell him to Juventus that meant they were unable to meet Aston Villa's asking price for Barry, that would be a significant decision. Were Benitez to try to sell the Basque now or in January, he would be cup-tied for the Champions League and his value reduced. Steve Finnan, another whose future is uncertain, did not even travel with the squad.

Steven Gerrard has been passed fit, with Fernando Torres and Robbie Keane poised to start their first competitive match together.

Team details (probable)

Standard Liege (4-4-2): Espinosa; Marcos, Sarr, Fellaini, Dante; Witsel, Defour, Toama, Dalmat; De Marmargo, Mbokani.

Liverpool (4-4-2): Reina; Arbeloa, Carragher, Agger, Dossena; Kuyt, Alonso, Gerrard, Benayoun; Keane, Torres.

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