Champions League: Liverpool v Porto big match preview

Nov 28 2007 by Ian Doyle, Liverpool Daily Post

AFTER a week of soundbites and statements, Rafael Benitez will let his team do the talking at Anfield this evening.

Liverpool step out in search of the victory against Porto that would continue their interest in this season’s Champions League for at least another fortnight.

But Benitez is acutely aware that a positive result would also aid his battle to remain in the managerial hot seat after his difference of opinion with American owners George Gillett and Tom Hicks spectacularly spilled over into the public arena last week.

The row has, at least for the time being, stepped back from the precipice following conciliatory moves earlier in the week by the Spaniard.

Having alerted the outside world to the divisions inside Anfield by revealing his insistence on “focusing on coaching and training my team” last Thursday, Benitez refused to fan the flames yesterday.

“As Liverpool Football Club manager I know that the most important thing are the supporters and the club so I will talk about the Porto game,” was how he greeted the media before playing a straight bat at any probing questions.

“I know how important the game is, so I’d prefer to concentrate on that. The supporters like to see good football so we will try to play well and win.

“I’ll talk about the game. If I talk about the other things then people will talk about them, and I don’t want any distractions – only to concentrate on this game. I’m thinking only about the game. It’s my decision to do that, for sure. It is clear. I am the manager, I know about this club and our supporters.

“We will win, that is the most important thing for the supporters. I have experience in football, when a team is unbeaten and playing well, then we must just keep the momentum going.”

That momentum, Benitez believes, is now at its greatest during his time at the club, with Liverpool unbeaten in the Premier League and still capable of salvaging their Champions League campaign despite a dismal opening to Group A.

“Firstly, we must win against Porto to progress,” says goalkeeper Pepe Reina. “But maybe it will make the people believe in us even more (that we can win the league and other trophies).

“Obviously, that will help people believe in the team and the manager too.”

Therein lies the crux of the matter. For whatever reason, Hicks and Gillett are clearly losing faith in Benitez’s methods and his ability to end a championship drought that stretches back to 1990.

Given their knowledge of football is limited at best, it begs the question of the standard of advice the Americans are receiving. Certainly, Benitez’s proposal to spend £4million on Kahka Kaladze in January with money set aside for the failed attempt to sign Gabriel Heinze in the summer seemed reasonable enough.

Yet the decision of Hicks and Gillett to veto the transfer, and any other incomings and outgoings until their next visit to Merseyside in mid-December, undermines Benitez and was, perhaps understandably, the catalyst for his behaviour last Thursday.

Hence the need for qualification from the Champions League group stages, a failure of which will serve only to plant further seeds of doubt in the minds of Liverpool’s owners.

It won’t be easy for Liverpool this evening. Porto head Group A, currently lead the Portuguese lead and are unbeaten in all competitions this season.

Benitez’s men were fortunate to draw 1-1 in Portugal on the opening matchday after falling behind early on and later reduced to 10 men following Jermaine Pennant’s red card.

Reina, though, has warned Jesualdo Ferreira’s side they will be facing a different Liverpool tonight, and says: “Maybe we are in better form now than when we first played Porto. I’m not sure we can surprise them by the way we are playing now, because the teams know each other really well these days.