Real Madrid build up

[Shaggy]

Carragher at right back?

[pondus]

BBC



Liverpool v Real Madrid
Uefa Champions League, First knock-out round, second leg
Venue: Anfield Date: Tuesday, 10 March Kick-off: 1945 GMT
Coverage: Full commentary on BBC Radio 5 Live with live text commentary on the BBC Sport website

Team news to follow later.

BIG MATCH STATS
Liverpool and Real Madrid have met twice before in European competition, the last being their match two weeks ago in Madrid which ended in a 0-1 victory for Liverpool.

On 27 May 1981, the two clubs met in the Champions Cup final in the Parc des Princes stadium in Paris. Alan Kennedy won the match for Liverpool in the 82nd minute.

With 14 Champions Cup/Champions League trophies between them, Real Madrid (nine) and Liverpool (five) rank as the first and third most successful clubs in Europe's most prestigious club tournament. Only AC Milan's seven CC/CL victories separate them.

Liverpool have played 13 European home matches against Spanish clubs and won only three times, drawing six and losing four. They have not won any of their last six home matches against clubs from Spain, since eliminating Barcelona from the Uefa Cup, with a 1-0 win in the semi-final second leg at Anfield on 19 April 2001.

Real Madrid have played nine European away matches against English clubs, winning three times, drawing two and losing four. The last time Real Madrid won a European match on English soil was on 22 November 2000, when they beat Leeds United 2-0 in a Champions League second phase group match.

CLUB FORM

LIVERPOOL

Undefeated in seven CL matches, winning their last three.

Without defeat in eight home CL matches.

They have scored at least one goal in their last 17 CL matches.

REAL MADRID

Won only two of their last five Champions League matches.

Not qualified for the quarter-final stage of the Champions League since 2004. Yet, with eight quarter-final appearances, Real only trail Manchester United.

KEY PLAYER NOTES

Liverpool's Albert Riera is suspended for this match.

Alvaro Arbeloa and Javier Mascherano will both be suspended if they receive another yellow card.

Arbeloa was under contract at Real Madrid between 2003 and 2006, but only played two league matches for the first team in the 2004-05 season.

Real Madrid's Raul is the Champions League's all-time record holder with 122 appearances and 64 goals.

If he takes the field, Lassana Diarra will be playing on his 24th birthday.

OTHER MISCELLANEOUS FACTS

Rafael Benitez was a youth player at Real before becoming a coach at the age of 26. He worked with the U-19s, Real Madrid B and was an assistant coach to Vicente Del Bosque with the senior team between March and May 1994.

[The_weatherman]

-------------Reina-------------
Arbeloa---Skrtel---Carra---Aurelio
----------Mash--Xabi---------
Kuyt--------Gerrard-------Babel
------------Torres-------------

Is the only way for us providing Torres and Arbeloa are fit. Aurelio is a must at the back IMO. We'll have N'Gog, Hyypia, Lucas and El-Zhar on the bench so there is not much there. The pressure is on Madrid to attack so Babel and Torres will hopefully get some space to run into.

[Matt]

Carragher at right back?

Aye and the miserable ****er can get on with it

[Scratch]

-------------Reina-------------
Arbeloa---Skrtel---Carra---Aurelio
----------Mash--Xabi---------
Kuyt--------Gerrard-------Babel
------------Torres-------------

Is the only way for us providing Torres and Arbeloa are fit. Aurelio is a must at the back IMO. We'll have N'Gog, Hyypia, Lucas and El-Zhar on the bench so there is not much there. The pressure is on Madrid to attack so Babel and Torres will hopefully get some space to run into.

Apart from switching Babel for Dossena, that's the team i picked as well...i chose the Doss/Aurelio left side cos it will be more defensivle secure than having Babel there, plus Dossena does seem quite handy at getting forward to the byline and whipping the ball in on his left, whereas Babel is prone to either cutting inside or switching back to his right foot...plus he's not gonna track back as much as Dossena, and i think we'll be under the cosh at times.

[The_weatherman]

Apart from switching Babel for Dossena, that's the team i picked as well...i chose the Doss/Aurelio left side cos it will be more defensivle secure than having Babel there, plus Dossena does seem quite handy at getting forward to the byline and whipping the ball in on his left, whereas Babel is prone to either cutting inside or switching back to his right foot...plus he's not gonna track back as much as Dossena, and i think we'll be under the cosh at times.

I can see the logic in that, plus it would be handy to have the option of throwing Babel in at the 70 minute to run at them.

[pondus]

We'll derail Rafa's Reds, roars Raul

Raul remains confident Real Madrid can overcome their defeat at the Bernabeu and knock Liverpool out of the Champions League at Anfield.
Raul: Hoping to knock Liverpool out



Primera Liga giants Real travel to Merseyside on Tuesday night for the second leg of their last-16 tie trailing their opponents 1-0 after Yossi Benayoun struck late on in Spain a fortnight ago.

However, Raul - the top scorer in Real's history and in the Champions League - insists he and his team-mates possess the ability to upset Rafael Benitez's Reds at Anfield.

The hosts are notoriously strong in front of their home supporters in continental competition, but captain Raul feels that Real manager Juande Ramos will coax the required performance.

"We have a clear idea of what we have to do - score twice," Raul said in The Times. "The other day we were hit strongly by the defeat, but we know we are going to have our chances and we are not going to give up.

"We are capable of beating Liverpool at Anfield. Since the arrival of Juande Ramos we are more disciplined.

"At the beginning of the season we had a lot of problems - we were scoring goals, but letting them in as well and that cost us a lot of points. We are now in good shape, above all physically and mentally."

[pondus]

Real Madrid star Cannavaro lambasts 'long-ball' Liverpool
Monday, March 9, 2009
Real Madrid defender Fabio Cannavaro



Real Madrid defender Fabio Cannavaro has branded Champions League rivals Liverpool an ultra-defensive team who rely on the long ball.

Real visit Anfield for the second leg of their last-16 tie tomorrow trailing 1-0 after the first game in the Bernabeu two weeks ago.

Yossi Benayoun scored the only goal of the game that night as Liverpool defended stoutly before hitting the Spanish champions with a late sucker punch.

But Cannavaro claims the Reds are too reliant on defence and expects more of the same from Rafa Benitez's men on Tuesday.

'At the Bernabeu, Liverpool did not make any effort to win the game,' he claimed

'Throughout the match, their goalkeeper [Jose Reina] kept sending long balls to Dirk Kuyt over and over again.

'I know for certain they will do the same at Anfield. I am sure of it. We must play our best football and must also have a lot of patience and eliminate any mistakes at the back.

'If we can score against them, we will force them to come out and play.'

And Cannavaro, who captained Italy to World Cup glory in 2006, insists the nine-time European champions have nothing to fear from their hosts.

'Liverpool are by no means a better team than Madrid,' he told the Madrid-based sports daily AS.

'They are a very organised and solid team and they know exactly how to play. They are very compact because they have been playing more or less with the same team for the last six years.

'For me, they are most dangerous on the counter and when it comes to set-pieces. They will allow you to play and they will even give you the ball, however, once they find a gap at the back, they will score.'

And the defender believes Madrid's best chance of success will come through the width of Dutch widemen Arjen Robben and Wesley Sneijder.

'We do not have to go all out attack for 90 minutes,' he said.

'The key is to open the field by looking for our wingers so that they can take on their players one-on-one.'

'By saying this I also admit that I am an idiot, as you all can see from my stupid comments about Liverpool'.

[Reece]

Nice to see them giving us things to pin on the dressing room wall.

[Kenneth]

"'For me, they are most dangerous on the counter and when it comes to set-pieces "

You don't know **** Mr Cannavaro. We're **** at set pieces I'll have you know!!!

[dww]

I'm forced to assume that we won that other game purely by accident. I'm not sure that as a Real fan I'd be happy that my team were capable of loosing even when the opposition aren't trying to win.

[Matt]

"'For me, they are most dangerous on the counter and when it comes to set-pieces "

You don't know **** Mr Cannavaro. We're **** at set pieces I'll have you know!!!

People have said the same about us for years - who cares, it gets results.

We were long-ball merchants in Spain though.

[knockers]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/europe/7930740.stm

Euro success magnifies Liverpool dilemma

Steve McManaman helped Real Madrid win two European Cups during his time at the Bernabeu and strutted his stuff with the likes of Zinedine Zidane, Ronaldo, Luis Figo, Roberto Carlos, Raul and Fernando Hierro.

They are great names for a club with a great past but the present, as McManaman tells BBC Sport, is a different story, with Real arriving on Merseyside to try to overturn a 1-0 deficit from the first leg of their last-16 Champions League tie against Liverpool.

Although they are record nine-time winners of the European Cup, Real have not progressed beyond the last 16 in the competition in four seasons and McManaman thinks that run will continue after Tuesday's second leg at Anfield.


It's getting results over a 38-game in the Premier League where Liverpool have faltered

Steve McManaman
"Real are a different team now with different individuals and I can't see them turning around the tie," said the 37-year-old, who won the competition with the Spaniards in 2000 and 2002.

"Liverpool are favourites to go through," predicted McManaman, who left the Reds for Real in 1999 and became a cult Los Blancos hero compared to the Galactico status of his more revered team-mates.

"If anything there might be a slightly different task now for Liverpool as a 0-0 result will see them through but they have to be positive rather than trying to play out for the draw because when you start doing that people get nervous.

"Real will have to go out and try to outgun Liverpool and that will play right into their hands.
Steve McManaman (right) with Zinedine Zidane (left) and Ronaldo (centre) during his time with the duo at Real Madrid
McManaman with Zidane and Ronaldo in their time at Real Madrid

"There will be acres of space for Liverpool and they will create chances and, at set-pieces, Real are certainly vulnerable."

He added: "Liverpool will still have to be wary of Arjen Robben, Raul and Gonzalo Higuain.

"Guti is also back. He picks out a good pass up front and can thread balls through.

"You have to be aware of Real's attacking prowess but on a special European night the atmosphere will be incredible and I can't see anything but a Liverpool victory."

But the confidence McManaman has in Liverpool achieving further European success does not apply to the club's challenge for a first Premier League title since 1989-1990.

"In knockout games home and away, Liverpool know how to get results but it's sustaining that and getting them over 38 games in the Premier League where they have faltered," he said.

"Manchester United might be big favourites to win almost everything this season but you wouldn't relish playing Liverpool in a knockout situation.

BENITEZ RECORD - LEAGUE v EUROPE
2004/2005
Premier League - 5th
Champions League - Winners
2005/2006
Premier League - 3rd
Champions League - Last 16
2006/2007
Premier League - 3rd
Champions League - Losing finalists
2007/2008
Premier League - 4th
Champions League - Semi-finals

"They know how to grind teams down and stifle them and make it a battle.

"It's the tactical nous of manager Rafael Benitez. He sets the team up in a particular way and it gets results.

"It's not as creative as Manchester United but defensively they have a certain way of playing and they can get results. They mean business in Europe."

But what helps Liverpool in Europe appears to be their downfall in the top flight as they have struggled to break down defensive-minded opponents and drawn six out of 14 league games at home this season.

"Domestically, it's a long season and when teams come to Anfield and just sit and stifle Liverpool, then they need the creativity to break them down," explained McManaman.

"You can win by the odd goal home and away in Europe, whereas in the Premier League you have to go out and beat teams, especially at home, when sometimes it's hardest.

"At the minute, Manchester United have that edge. They have that little bit more creativity.

"Liverpool may have two or three players who can open up defences where Manchester United have three, four, five and then some on the bench just in case.

"Liverpool need a proper right midfielder, another creative left winger and to clear out a few people.

606: DEBATE
What are your thoughts on Rafael Benitez?

"But they also need to bring in a few quality creative players.

"Unfortunately, the rest of Europe is looking for these players as well and they cost an arm and a leg, so it's easier said than done."

Striker Robbie Keane was supposed to add some flair to the Anfield attack when he signed last summer but he returned to Tottenham in the January transfer window after failing to impress Benitez.

"I would rather have had him in my squad than not," said McManaman. "If Liverpool had sold him and brought in another player I could have understood it.

"For three or four months I would have kept him, seen what happens and sold him at the end of the season if that was the way it was going to go."

The ongoing boardroom politics also seem to be blocking the club's progress and, until that is solved, doubts will remain over the ability of the Reds to break Manchester United's stranglehold and compete on and off the pitch.

McManaman concluded: "The sooner Liverpool are sorted out with a new stadium and going forward in that direction there will always be question marks about them."

[Icon]

Real Madrid star Cannavaro..... is oviously a **** for criticising Liverpools style of play when his ****ing team lost at home to them!.

[Liverpool]

"'For me, they are most dangerous on the counter and when it comes to set-pieces "

You don't know **** Mr Cannavaro. We're **** at set pieces I'll have you know!!!

" They are very compact because they have been playing more or less with the same team for the last six years."

Only Gerrard, Carra and Alonso have managed to stay in the first team from 4 years ago. He doesnt have a clue and thinks were good at set pieces.