Roberto Mancini wary of wounded Liverpool

Feb 19 2008 by Ian Doyle, Liverpool Daily Post

ROBERTO MANCINI brings his Inter Milan team to Anfield tonight wary of a wounded Liverpool.

The Inter coach brushed aside suggestions it was the ideal time to face Rafael Benitez’s side after their shock FA Cup exit to Coca-Cola Championship side Barnsley on Saturday.

Instead, Mancini has called on his players to be on their guard in the Champions League first knockout round first leg.

“The FA Cup is a very special competition and all teams give as much as they can,” said the Inter coach. “I saw Liverpool created a lot of chances that they didn’t manage to take.

“It’s true to say they aren’t doing too well in the league at the moment, but that means they will give more in the Champions League and that could make them more dangerous.

“I don’t know too much about the unrest at Liverpool, but when things aren’t going well these kind of problems can arise.”

Mancini, who appeared four times for Leicester City at the end of his playing career in 2001, added: “We know we will have to be very careful. We have a great deal of prospect for Liverpool and their manager, and we know these games will be very tough indeed.

“Even when we are winning in Italy , it’s not enough. We need to succeed in the Champions League and it would be prestigious for this club, but we know there is a long way to go. Anfield is a great stadium to win a game. This stadium is part of the history of football. Two massive clubs with a lot of history in football will be playing.”

Inter were awarded the Serie A title in 2006 after the ‘Calciopoli’ scandal and successfully defended the crown last season.

They stand nine points clear at the top of the table and are unbeaten in the league, a domination that has made them unpopular in their homeland.

But when asked if only Inter fans would be supporting the visitors tonight, Mancini responded: “I don’t think many Everton fans will be cheering on Liverpool!”

Former Everton duo Marco Materazzi and Olivier Dacourt, ex-Arsenal man Patrick Vieira and Hernan Crespo, once of Chelsea, have all appeared at Anfield while playing in the Premier League.

And Inter skipper Javier Zanetti said: “They’ve all told us that there’s a really warm atmosphere when you play at Anfield. We know we will be playing in an excellent stadium with a huge atmosphere and a lot of support for Liverpool. We know games are always difficult at this level of the Champions League and you cannot afford to make mistakes.”

Inter have lost only three of their last 45 away games, but such an imposing record has not translated itself into success in Europe.

They have been reached the semi-finals just once since the inception of the Champions League, and haven’t won the European Cup since they beat Liverpool in the semi-finals en route to lifting the trophy in 1965.

Zanetti added: “We know Liverpool are very strong at home, we have to keep a very close eye on them. But we intend to play our own way.

“We are a team that doesn’t know how to sit back. We think we are at least equal to them, so we need to go out and play our normal game, create chances and take them if we can.

“We have a possibility prove ourselves over the next two matches. We feel that we are well equipped to make progress in this competition. We have a tremendous amount of respect for Liverpool. We know that we will have two very difficult matches despite what happened to them on Saturday. That defeat means nothing.

“We have a huge test before us and we want to go through to the next round. This will be a huge challenge, and we know Liverpool have done well in recent years in this competition.”