The draw for the Champions League today opened up the clash we all expected. The 2006 European Champions Barcelona will take on the 2005 European Champions Liverpool over two legs.
Barcelona had made noises before the draw that they would relish the opportunity to face Liverpool. Now, with the names inked in to UEFA’s fixture list, Rafael Benitez has ensured that Liverpool will be going all out to make Barcelona pay for their over-confidence.
Firstly, Barcelona’s President Joan Laporta said:
“I am happy with the draw, Liverpool are a team that I had a preference for in order to face at this stage.
“Liverpool are powerful opponents who play very physical football and have players that we know very well, such as Luis Garcia and Xabi Alonso.
“Let’s not forget, we are the team to beat this season.”
Rafa Benitez however is keen to take on Barcelona, firing an uncharacteristic opening salvo, against his old enemy from his Real Madrid days. Insisting to Liverpool fans that while at Valencia, Benitez had many happy visits to the Nou Camp.
“All I have heard is how they hoped to draw us — they seem to think they are better.’
“I have received a lot of phone calls from people in Spain and they were all saying how much Barcelona wanted to draw us. They will not lack confidence, but this is the Champions League, and everyone knows what a big difference it makes to our players.
“As Valencia coach, I won many times at the Nou Camp. In fact, over the past few years, Valencia have become their bogey team, so we will not have anything to fear.
“You only have to look at last season to see what can happen. Everyone thought it would be easy for us against Benfica. Now they are saying this is mission impossible against Barcelona. We have a lot of respect for them, but we have shown what we’re capable of in this competition.”
What do you think? Can we beat Barcelona?