JOHANN CRUYFF reckons Barcelona’s Champions League dreams could be left high and dry by Liverpool’s aerial assault. The Dutch legend is convinced the club he managed to European Cup glory in 1992 are more than capable of defending the trophy they lifted in May. But he sees Rafa Benitez’s Reds as a very genuine threat when they come to the Nou Camp for the first leg of Wednesday’s last-16 clash.Cruyff, who also won four La Liga titles in charge of Barca, believes 6ft 7in beanpole hitman Peter Crouch and strike pal Dirk Kuyt pose the biggest danger. He insisted: “Barcelona against Liverpool is the absolute top match in the Champions League and, normally speaking, it shouldn’t be a problem for Barca. “But the last times I saw Liverpool playing I have to say that, with Kuyt and Crouch up front, they played some excellent stuff.
“The two of them form an enormously good partnership. “Crouch is technically better than folk think and Kuyt’s positional play is very good — in the air nobody wins anything against them.
“If Barcelona are forced back, then every throw-in or set-piece will result in a problem. “With English teams you have to make sure that you are as far away as possible from your own goal.”
Boss Benitez is close to agreeing a pre-contract deal for Ukraine hitman Andriy Voronin. The Bayer Leverkusen striker is available on a free in the summer — and Benitez has stolen a march on a host of interested clubs.
Voronin, 27, played the entire 90 minutes of the midweek UEFA Cup win over Blackburn but the German outfit have been reluctant to renew his current deal.
