Liverpool look safe despite Benitez warnings

11/04/2007 02:42

By Mitch Phillips

LONDON (Reuters) - Liverpool coach Rafael Benitez is using his team’s remarkable comeback in the 2005 Champions League final to keep them focused for Wednesday’s straightforward quarter-final second leg against PSV Eindhoven.

Liverpool seem certain to progress to a semi-final meeting with either Chelsea or Valencia after crushing their Dutch rivals 3-0 in the away leg but Benitez says that the miracle of Istanbul, when Liverpool came from 3-0 down to eventually beat AC Milan penalties, will ensure there is no complacency.

"These kind of games are difficult. Sometimes teams say ’OK, the job is done’ but we have to be careful," Benitez said ahead of the Anfield return.

"We know there have been comebacks from 3-0 down in the Champions League - we did it in Istanbul. We know if they score an early goal they will push forward and we could have problems so we have to approach the game the same as we did against Barcelona and try to win."

In that knockout round tie Liverpool led 2-1 from the away leg and although they eventually lost the Anfield return 1-0 to go through on the away goals rule they played positively all night and never allowed Barcelona to feel that they were on top.

And for all Benitez’s warnings, history says that PSV have no chance. In more than half a .....continued below

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century of European football 114 teams have lost a home first leg 3-0 and none of them have advanced.

INSPIRATIONAL GERRARD

Liverpool’s comeback against Milan was built on the forceful, inspirational presence of Steven Gerrard but PSV have nobody of that calibre in their lineup, while the England midfielder will ensure that nobody in his own team allows his individual contribution to fall off.

Gerrard scored the opener in the first leg as Liverpool produced another top-notch European performance, albeit against injury-hit opponents who seemed intent from the start only on trying to secure a goalless draw.

The only black mark on the night was the ruptured Achilles tendon suffered by impressive Brazilian midfielder Fabio Aurelio which has ended his season and opened the door for a possible start for Mark Gonzalez.

Benitez’s other main selection issue is up front where Dirk Kuyt is suspended. Red-hot Peter Crouch looks a certain starter but Craig Bellamy looked off the pace alongside him before being substituted early in the second half of Saturday’s 2-1 Premier League win at Reading, and made sure his manager was aware of his displeasure at the decision.

PSV will travel to England with a 16-man squad as Alex, Ibrahim Afellay, Edison Mendes, Michael Reiziger, Alcides and Jan Kromkamp are all sidelined.

Coach Ronald Koeman, who said after the first leg that their Champions League campaign was over, is desperate to halt PSV’s slide. The Dutch league leaders, who lost at the weekend, have seen their 11-point advantage whittled down to two with three games to play.

"We have to become again the team that dominated before the winter break" he said.

Probable teams:

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