At the start of the season the prospect of taking part in a European odyssey that featured a springtime game in Madrid would have been a cause for great excitement at Anfield.
It says everything about Liverpool’s dysfunctional and eventful campaign that they have arrived in the Spanish capital at almost the right time of year, but in a competition that they had hoped to avoid.
Next month’s Champions League final at the Bernabéu may have been Liverpool’s original target, but indifferent form in that competition means that they are slumming it in the Europa League and preparing to take on Atlético Madrid at the Vicente Calderón in the first leg of their semi-final on Thursday night.
Having arrived in his home town via London, Paris and Bordeaux, Rafael Benítez is keen to turn negatives into a positive. “It [the long journey] has been good because you can see how everyone has been sticking together,” the Liverpool manager said.
“Sometimes the positive thing from something like this is that people have a better team experience. If you are on a plane for just one or two hours, everyone is just watching the film, on their PlayStations or whatever, now they have been talking more.
“It has been difficult for everyone because they will arrive tired but you could see them all talking to each other in different groups and changing them around as well rather than simply sticking in their normal ones.”
Benítez, who is likely to play David Ngog in attack in the absence of the injured Fernando Torres, dismissed suggestions that even Barcelona had been deprived of their usual vim and vigour by the coach journey that preceded Wednesday’s 3-1 defeat away to Inter Milan in the Champions League semi-final, first leg.
His positive stance and refusal to accept that performance levels will suffer because of Liverpool’s unusual travel schedule are clearly an attempt to remove an excuse for failure. Rather, he will use his team-talk on Thursday night to remind his side that having given so much just to get to Madrid, it would be a waste if they departed the city without having given themselves a good chance of reaching their third European final in the past six seasons.
“When you get to this stage of the competition, it is easy to motivate the players,” he said. “They know they are so close to the final and have to produce their maximum to win the game. It will be tough, though. Atlético normally play with pace and ability. People talk about their weakness in defence but that is because they are good in attack and are sometimes exposed at the back. If they can keep the balance, they will be very dangerous.
“In the Vicente Calderón everything will be different. Atlético will be a very difficult opposition. The stadium is very good for them, especially if they start the game well. If they don’t, then the fans can get on top of them so maybe that’s something we can manage.
“It is important to have an opportunity to win silverware and it will have been a difficult journey for the fans who manage to get to the game, so we have to do our best for them.”
It says everything about Liverpool’s dysfunctional and eventful campaign that they have arrived in the Spanish capital at almost the right time of year, but in a competition that they had hoped to avoid.
Next month’s Champions League final at the Bernabéu may have been Liverpool’s original target, but indifferent form in that competition means that they are slumming it in the Europa League and preparing to take on Atlético Madrid at the Vicente Calderón in the first leg of their semi-final on Thursday night.
Having arrived in his home town via London, Paris and Bordeaux, Rafael Benítez is keen to turn negatives into a positive. “It [the long journey] has been good because you can see how everyone has been sticking together,” the Liverpool manager said.
“Sometimes the positive thing from something like this is that people have a better team experience. If you are on a plane for just one or two hours, everyone is just watching the film, on their PlayStations or whatever, now they have been talking more.
“It has been difficult for everyone because they will arrive tired but you could see them all talking to each other in different groups and changing them around as well rather than simply sticking in their normal ones.”
Benítez, who is likely to play David Ngog in attack in the absence of the injured Fernando Torres, dismissed suggestions that even Barcelona had been deprived of their usual vim and vigour by the coach journey that preceded Wednesday’s 3-1 defeat away to Inter Milan in the Champions League semi-final, first leg.
His positive stance and refusal to accept that performance levels will suffer because of Liverpool’s unusual travel schedule are clearly an attempt to remove an excuse for failure. Rather, he will use his team-talk on Thursday night to remind his side that having given so much just to get to Madrid, it would be a waste if they departed the city without having given themselves a good chance of reaching their third European final in the past six seasons.
“When you get to this stage of the competition, it is easy to motivate the players,” he said. “They know they are so close to the final and have to produce their maximum to win the game. It will be tough, though. Atlético normally play with pace and ability. People talk about their weakness in defence but that is because they are good in attack and are sometimes exposed at the back. If they can keep the balance, they will be very dangerous.
“In the Vicente Calderón everything will be different. Atlético will be a very difficult opposition. The stadium is very good for them, especially if they start the game well. If they don’t, then the fans can get on top of them so maybe that’s something we can manage.
“It is important to have an opportunity to win silverware and it will have been a difficult journey for the fans who manage to get to the game, so we have to do our best for them.”
No comments:
Post a Comment