Friday, April 23, 2010

Mascherano Driven By Desire For First Trophy At Reds

Javier Mascherano insists memories of past European disappointments will not be his driving force as he attempts to move a step closer to winning his first piece of silverware as a Liverpool player this evening.

Mascherano has yet to taste success with Liverpool since moving to Anfield in February 2007, although he has come agonisingly close on a couple of occasions -- especially in Europe.

He was part of the side that lost the 2007 Champions League final 2-1 to AC Milan, and also the following year when Liverpool were knocked out of the same competition at the semi-final stage after going down 4-3 on aggregate to Chelsea. To some, the pain of those losses could serve as an inspiration, but Mascherano admits he prefers to look forward than back.

Speaking ahead of Thursday night’s Europa League semi-final first leg against Atletico Madrid, the Argentina midfielder said: "I try not to think of the past. For me the present is best and I try to think in the present. We will try to get a good result against Atletico and get through to the final in Hamburg.

"Whenever you lose you always feel that it's not a good experience. (But) I try to take away the positives when we lose and we got to the final in 2007. We couldn't win but we were there and that's important. We will try to win against Atletico and not think about anything else."

Regarding his chase for silverware with the five-time European champions, Mascherano added: "Trophies are the main thing. I said this a few weeks ago. This is the biggest game of the season for us."

Liverpool, who warmed up for tonight's match with a 3-0 win over West Ham on Monday night, will be without star striker Fernando Torres after he underwent season-ending knee surgery at the weekend.

Atletico will also be without one of their key forwards with Sergio Aguero suspended, and on top of that the Spanish side are also struggling for form having lost four of their past five league games.

Looking ahead to the clash, Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez said: "My dream is that on Thursday night we can settle the tie, but I'm aware that the tie will be decided at Anfield. It's going to be a very difficult and complicated tie. Both teams will play with caution but they will also try to score goals."

Both Benitez and Mascherano were also asked about their futures during last night's pre-match press conference, but both insisted their thoughts were solely on tonight's encounter with Atletico.

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