Rafa Benitez: Manchester United will fear Fernando Torres

Mar 21 2008 by Ian Doyle, Liverpool Daily Post

RAFAEL BENITEZ believes Manchester United should be just as worried about Fernando Torres as Liverpool will be about Cristiano Ronaldo on Sunday.

And the Anfield manager reckons all players should be given the same protection that Sir Alex Ferguson is calling for the Portuguese winger.

The Premier League’s leading two goalscorers will go head-to-head when the bitter North West rivals collide in their blockbusting clash at Old Trafford this weekend.

Ronaldo took his tally to 24 this season with a double strike against Bolton Wanderers on Wednesday that strengthened United’s position at the top of the table.

Torres, who was 24 yesterday, became the first Liverpool player since Robbie Fowler in 1996 to reach 20 league goals in a season with his winner against Reading last Saturday.

And Benitez said: “The key to winning on Sunday will be stopping Ronaldo? Maybe it will be stopping Torres. Ronaldo is in form but so too is Torres.

“It’s a fantastic achievement to score 20 league goals in your second, third or fourth season, so to do it in your first is even better.

“He continues to improve and work really hard. It’s too early to draw comparisons with other Liverpool strikers, you need a few more years before you can do that.

“But right now he is a very good player and can get better.”

Liverpool are one of only four top-flight teams Ronaldo hasn’t scored against this season, with Manchester City, Middlesbrough and Chelsea completing the quartet.

Earlier this week, United manager Ferguson put pressure on the officials to improve what he perceives as leniency in dealing with some of the more agricultural attempts to stop Ronaldo.

But Benitez is confident Sunday’s match referee Steve Bennett will offer similar protection to the likes of Torres and Steven Gerrard.

“Ferguson is very clever and has a lot of experience, that is clear,” said the Liverpool manager. “After a difficult game (against Portsmouth in the FA Cup) he was talking about referees, and before an important game now he is talking about protecting Ronaldo.

“The referees, though, have experience and they will know Ferguson. This kind of treatment must be the same for all the teams and all the players.

“If you need to protect Ronaldo, you also need to protect Torres and Gerrard and all the skilful players in the league.

“I wasn’t surprised last week to hear what he was saying. I just want to go into the game with the same situation as the other team.

“But I think the referee has experience and is strong enough, so I don’t see it being a problem.”

A frustrated Ferguson fears Ronaldo could be kicked out of the English game and towards a move to Real Madrid or Barcelona. But Benitez believes the winger must acknowledge the physical nature of the Premier League – and warned he would find only a slight difference in Spain.

“It’s more physical in England than Spain, the supporters here enjoy that style of play, and you have to accept that,” he said.

“In terms of tactics and players there isn’t much difference, but there is definitely more contact here.

“When you talk about more physical football here, it’s about people going into a tackle or a challenge maybe not with any bad intentions to kick the player, but because it’s more physical sometimes you can kick the player.

“And I don’t think it’s more cynical in Spain. I think it’s more or less the same.”