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Jamie Carragher: Liverpool are a match for anyone

Mar 12 2008 by Ian Doyle, Liverpool Daily Post

CENTURION Jamie Carragher believes Liverpool are a match for anyone in Europe after they progressed to the Champions League quarter-finals.

Rafael Benitez’s side secured a famous 1-0 win at the San Siro against 10-man Inter Milan to go through 3-0 on aggregate in their first knockout round tie.

A brilliant 64th-minute Fernando Torres strike made certain the Anfield outfit’s 12th appearance in the last eight of the competition.

Carragher, who became the first Liverpool player to reach 100 games in Europe last night, was part of an excellent rearguard action that frustrated Inter.

And the defender reckons Benitez’s men will be a team to avoid when Friday’s draw takes place in Switzerland.

“We’ve beaten possibly the best team in Europe,” said Carragher. “But we’ve proved it again – we’ve proved in the last three years we are as good as anyone in Europe.

“We knew if we kept a clean sheet we would go through – that’s what we were determined to get and we got it.”

Liverpool’s win means they join Premier League rivals Arsenal, Manchester United and Chelsea in the quarter-final draw. Turkish team Fenerbahce, Schalke of Germany, Roma and Barcelona make up the remainder of the line-up.

Inter’s task last night was made more difficult five minutes after the break when Nicolas Burdisso was dismissed for second bookable offences five minutes after the interval. Benitez’s side have already reached the Champions League final twice in the last three years and the Spaniard believes his present squad is better than either of those.

“I’m really pleased with how the team played over the two games,” said the Anfield manager.

“We controlled the game. We had some problems as they had a couple of chances, but we had some chances of our own. We knew the first goal was important, and when we got that it was easier for us.

“Tonight we wanted to play compact and counter-attack and we knew that Inter couldn’t make a mistake.

“We have a better squad than before, but you never know in football.

“In my first year, nobody thought we could win the final but we did.

“For me, the most important thing is the team

being in the Champions League and doing really well every year.”

Asked who his preference in the quarter-finals was, Benitez said: “I don’t have any preference over who we get in the next round, I just want to enjoy this night.”

Torres’s strike was his eight in his last five games and moved his season’s tally on to 26 in 35 outings.

And Benitez added: “We are really pleased with Fernando. He has 26 goals but I’d like to see more from him this season. He has a very good mentality and is improving every day.”

Following his team’s defeat, Inter Milan coach Roberto Mancini sensationally announced he will resign at the end of the season.

And Mancini pointed to Burdisso’s red card as the turning point of the game.

“Playing 10 against 11 was the biggest problem,” he said. “Trying to win a game like that, you can’t do that against a team like Liverpool.

“The sending-off changed the game. In the first half you don’t expect a player to get booked like Nicolas did. There were four fouls from behind by Liverpool players in the first half and they were never punished.

“Sometimes in the Champions League, a team that isn’t doing well in their domestic league finds extra motivation in the competition.”

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