Rafa plays down Reds expectations
| Rafael Benitez has arrived in Marseille desperately trying to calm wild expectations following Liverpool's humbling of the champions of Europe.But already talk on both sides of the channel is of whether Liverpool can achieve Premier League and Champions League glory in tandem following their victory over Manchester United on Saturday. Marseille boss Erik Gerets was so impressed he described Liverpool as "Duracell bunnies" and an example to the world for their performance in reducing Sir Alex Ferguson's men to despair in a 2-1 defeat at Anfield. Benitez needed to have the famous battery advert explained to him but once he cottoned on, the Spaniard said: "It is nice that we have made such an impact. As far as battery-powered, I suppose they are talking of Javier Mascherano. "But as far as making an impression, I am only concerned about the impact it has on us and our confidence. Too many people want to talk too early about titles and other things. "We did well against Manchester United but we must be focused on the next game, and that is Marseille. "We must not allow ourselves to get carried away. We played well on Saturday but the Champions League is different. "Clearly we must not think about what happened in the past and think only of our next game and making sure that we win it. Otherwise you waste what has gone before. "We have talked to the players about putting Manchester United out of their minds and just concentrate on the future." Benitez is without Brazilian full-back Fabio Aurelio, who has a calf injury, but he confirmed that Steven Gerrard and Fernando Torres are both fit to start in Tuesday night's opening group D clash in the Stade Velodrome. It is the scene of last season's Champions League salvation, when Liverpool won 4-0 to achieve qualification for the knockout stages when all had seemed lost after a shocking opening to their European campaign. Benitez - who insisted last term's late heroics were "not good for my heart" - said: "We do not want be making as hard work of it as we did last season to get through the group stage." The Anfield boss has shuddering memories of the mess Liverpool made of their first three group games last term and the massive toll on the squad both mentally and physically. Now as the Merseysiders open their new group stage campaign against a Marseille side who played a major part in making last season's initial campaign such a nightmare, Benitez demands a winning start this time around. Marseille inflicted a 1-0 defeat on Liverpool at Anfield, the first French side ever to win there in Europe, when a Mathieu Valbuena goal rocked the hosts to the core. Benitez said: "People do say that our European games did have an effect on us in domestic matches last season, but I do not really think so, it was more down to silly mistakes. "But we do not want to go through again what we went through last season. We want to win the first game, and continue it that way. That would be perfect. "If we can do things better from the start this time around, it will be better for my heart." But however much Benitez claims that European and league form last term were divorced, most of Liverpool's calamitous efforts domestically came at the time that they were falling apart in the Champions League. They started with a draw in Porto, lost at home to Marseille and then in Istanbul against Besiktas. There was a spell when Benitez's own future depended on saving their Champions League campaign. That came by putting four past Porto, scoring eight against Besiktas and then another four last December in the Velodrome to secure progress to the |
發表於 2008-9-16 03:07 AM
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