Loved the last line of this:
"The Liverpool manager will be relieved that Chelsea will be denied Michael Essien tonight, the Ghanaian sitting out a one-match ban, with Ricardo Carvalho and Michael Ballack also rated doubtful, the latter having hobbled away from Sunday's draw at Newcastle. Benítez has his own quandaries to solve, not least the make-up of his midfield. Xabi Alonso has featured in every European tie this season and, as the manager's eyes and ears on the pitch, is virtually undroppable. The same might have been said a few weeks ago for the industrious Mohamed Sissoko, so dominant in the victory in Barcelona, but that was before Javier Mascherano established such metronomic efficiency and excellence in a Liverpool shirt as to make a mockery of West Ham's decision not to play him earlier this season.
Three into two will not go. For the moment, the Merseysiders retain hope that two European Cups within three years remains rather more plausible."
"The Liverpool manager will be relieved that Chelsea will be denied Michael Essien tonight, the Ghanaian sitting out a one-match ban, with Ricardo Carvalho and Michael Ballack also rated doubtful, the latter having hobbled away from Sunday's draw at Newcastle. Benítez has his own quandaries to solve, not least the make-up of his midfield. Xabi Alonso has featured in every European tie this season and, as the manager's eyes and ears on the pitch, is virtually undroppable. The same might have been said a few weeks ago for the industrious Mohamed Sissoko, so dominant in the victory in Barcelona, but that was before Javier Mascherano established such metronomic efficiency and excellence in a Liverpool shirt as to make a mockery of West Ham's decision not to play him earlier this season.
Three into two will not go. For the moment, the Merseysiders retain hope that two European Cups within three years remains rather more plausible."
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