Incentive for success

May 21 2007 Laurence Francis

Zenden would be forgiven for thinking, however, that destiny will see him lift the trophy on Wednesday.

After all, Liverpool have beaten three of his previous clubs – Barcelona, PSV Eindhoven and Chelsea – en route to Athens and he has played a hugely important role.

Apart from successfully converting the first spot-kick in the shoot-out victory over Chelsea, Zenden has made nine appearances in this year’s tournament – and hopes to make it into double figures in Athens if he shakes off his ankle problem.

“It’s a big tournament with all the big teams,” he noted. “You can’t expect easy games if you want to win the trophy. If you want to do that, you have to beat the best.

“We have played our fair share of good teams and are playing another good one in Milan.

“We don’t expect anything different. I’m sure that they will remember two years ago and I have heard that some of their players were having nightmares 12 months later.

“Let’s hope we can repeat that and win again.”

To do that, throwing the shackles on Milan’s swaggering playmaker Kaka will be absolutely imperative.

That said, Zenden is also aware of the perils that lie in wait if Liverpool only concentrate on nullifying the Brazilian.

“He is a terrific player but if you only concentrate on stopping him, there will be another player who can cause damage,” the midfielder noted.

“We have got to play very compact and make sure that we do not give them any chances.

“They are quick, sharp and Kaka plays very well on the counter-attack. It must be a team effort to stop them.” I hope Rafa will give me the chance. I have played in most of the Champions League games this year and I’m looking forward to the final.

“We will all be trying to convince the manager that we should be in the team. He will decide the players and tactics.”

After the final, Benitez will also decide whether Zenden – whom he recently spoke so enthusiastically about – has done enough to extend his stay on Merseyside but neither player or manager are prepared to discuss that topic at present.

Yet if Zenden does have to look for pastures new, he feels he will be leaving behind a club which is poised to finally mount a sustained challenge for the Premiership.

And what could fire that belief more than conquering Europe for a sixth time out in Athens?

“I think we are reaching a peak now,” he adds. “In the beginning we dropped points and in the league if you do that, it makes it more and more difficult.

“But we have done well in Europe, and from January onwards we have put a decent run together.

“I think physically at this time of year, you get a lot of tired teams but we are all feeling quite fit and raring to go for the final. Rotation is part of it. Rafa keeps an eye on everything we do and he’ll rest players when he feels it is right to.

“It’s true that we are not happy with the points we gathered this year.

“We finished third again but last year we had 82 points, this time not so many.

“ That is disappointing. As a club, that is something we’ll look to put right next year.”