Benitez responds to Mourinho jibe
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Liverpool boss Rafael Benitez has cranked up the war of words with Chelsea counterpart Jose Mourinho ahead of their Champions League semi-final. Mourinho has already claimed Liverpool will be favourites as they are only challenging for the Champions League.
But Benitez said: "We were good friends until we started winning, then he started changing his mind. "It's the same with the managers of the top sides. He has good relationships with managers of teams he beats." He added: "He fights with the managers of the top sides. He has already started it with us, yesterday!"
Chelsea set up a rematch of the infamous Champions League semi-final of 2005 when Liverpool went on to win the tournament. The Reds beat Chelsea courtesy of a goal from Luis Garcia, which the Blues argue did not fully cross the line. But Mourinho insisted after the win in Valencia that revenge will not be his motive as he aims to steer Chelsea to a historic Quadruple.
"It is a tie where we know we start from behind and why is simple: Liverpool play only in the Champions League and Chelsea plays in the Champions League, Premiership and FA Cup. "And we have players suspended and on yellow cards. Liverpool is in a very clean situation so I think they start in front of us." Benitez answered Mourinho's taunts by citing the money that his rival has had available to lavish on his Stamford Bridge squad.
"Always as a manager you must be confident your team can win, and any Liverpool team will always be confident," said the Spaniard. "But we know Chelsea are a very good team, in the last five years they have spent big money on players and they have a very good squad.
"They will be tough. They have spent money for five years, they are in other semi-finals and chasing trophies, that is what they want and have prepared for. "Yes we only have one trophy to go for, but they would not want to change what they are doing now."
Benitez also hopes it will be an advantage to play the second leg at Anfield in a repeat of the semi-final between the pair two years ago. Benitez said: "They may not accept what happened here two years ago, but they cannot change things now. "We are pleased we will play the second-leg at Anfield. If we can do something at Stamford Bridge, maybe we will then have the advantage. -
but the 2nd leg is @ stamford bridge what 1st leg @ anfieldOriginally posted by zocoss:
Benitez said: "They may not accept what happened here two years ago, but they cannot change things now. "We are pleased we will play the second-leg at Anfield. If we can do something at Stamford Bridge, maybe we will then have the advantage. -
I don't know leh... i only see this on soccernet and bbc.Originally posted by ghimpheng:but the 2nd leg is @ stamford bridge what 1st leg @ anfield
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Where you got your info from... ?Originally posted by ghimpheng:but the 2nd leg is @ stamford bridge what 1st leg @ anfield
Home comfort for Rafa in Euro semi-final
Rafael Benitez believes his Liverpool side will have the upper hand in their Champions League semi-final with Chelsea because the second-leg is at Anfield.
That will rekindle memories of the momentous clash between the pair two seasons ago when Liverpool won with a disputed Luis Garcia goal before heading off to Istanbul where they beat AC Milan in the final.
Now, once again, Liverpool must go to Stamford Bridge for the first-leg, and Benitez said: 'They may not accept what happened here two years ago, but they cannot change things now.
'We are pleased we will play the second-leg at Anfield. If we can do something at Stamford Bridge, maybe we will then have the advantage. -
From soccernet Seems like they have a error
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ya i know they had an error but does not matter i think chelsea will still winOriginally posted by zocoss: -
Yes, RITE ON! Chlesea number OneOriginally posted by ghimpheng:ya i know they had an error but does not matter i think chelsea will still win
Yeah! 
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Mikel: We will Kop the lot
MIKEL JOHN OBI has taunted Liverpool by insisting: You wonÂ’t stop us winning the Quadruple. The Nigerian midfielder believes Chelsea already have the edge over Manchester United in the race to win the Premiership and FA Cup.
Now Mikel has stoked up his side’s titanic Champions League showdown by claiming Rafa Benitez’s men will not stop them making history. Mikel, 19, said: “We’ve already got one trophy in the Carling Cup and are on course for the other three. “It has never crossed our minds it is impossible. “Even when some write us off, we have faith in ourselves. We are fighting in these competitions and our target is still intact — to win them all.”
Chelsea came from behind to beat Valencia on Tuesday. Mikel says it was another sign Chelsea will not be stopped. He added: “People were also writing us off before our trips to Barcelona and Porto yet we came out on top. We’ve been in this situation many times but luckily we’ve the experience and strength to be able to do that and it has helped us on many occasions.
“We believe that, even though we are away in the second leg against Liverpool, we can still score goals. “We have the belief we can get through no matter where we play. Our will to win is the key.” -
The warm embrace was meant to signal an end to hostilities, but Rafa Benitez might have known it would only prove a temporary truce.
After failing to acknowledge his Liverpool counterpart before or after their two previous meetings, Jose Mourinho waited by the side of the pitch, prior to last September's Premiership encounter at Stamford Bridge, and greeted him with a firm handshake, pat on the shoulder and beaming smile.
No-one was fooled, least of all Benitez.
Renowned as a shrewd judge of character, the Liverpool manager went along with the public reconciliation but privately braced himself for the rhetoric to resume the minute they were due to meet again in meaningful action. He could hardly be accused of misjudging Mourinho, either, after Chelsea's outspoken boss began the latest verbal exchanges before Liverpool had even qualified for the Champions' League semi-finals.
Wednesday's return leg with PSV Eindhoven had still to be negotiated when Mourinho turned his thoughts to another last-four showdown with Liverpool and claimed they would have an advantage "because the Champions' League is all they have to play for."
Benitez needed no prompting to return fire with fire and provide further compelling evidence that these two bitter rivals now trade insults more freely and frequently than even Sir Alex Ferguson and Arsene Wenger. Tales of managerial squabbles can often be given a helping hand by a particular line of interrogation, but a single innocuous question about Mourinho was all it took to set Benitez off, after Liverpool booked their place with a 4-0 aggregate win.
Asked if their uneasy relationship might dominate the build-up, he said: "We used to be friends, but once we started winning games against them, he changed his mind. He is like that with all the sides. He has a good relationship with managers he knows he can beat but fights with those at the top."
There may have been a touch of playground pettiness about the follow-up claim that "he started it", but Benitez had already said enough to confirm there will be a charged atmosphere between the dug-outs as well as in the stands at Stamford Bridge on April 25 and Anfield on May 1. Mourinho is still in denial over Luis Garcia's Champions' League semi-final winner at Anfield two years ago, insisting the ball did not cross the line, but acrimony between the camps really began to take root when they met again in the group stages five months later.
Liverpool, reigning European champions at the time, were derided as negative, after a goalless draw at Anfield, and it struck a raw nerve with Benitez, who promptly widened the rift by claiming Chelsea's rise to the Premiership summit was all down to owner Roman Abramovich's unrivalled financial backing. Back came Mourinho, in his inimitable style, as he shrugged his shoulders and said: "Maybe he has a problem with me, but I don't have one with him. I know my face is not always a nice one, but don't always make me out to be the bad boy."
In last season's FA Cup semi-final, and the subsequent Community Shield, the real conflict was again at the side of the pitch as both managers trampled all over the long-held custom of a handshake at the final whistle. Each time, they made off in different directions and tried to make out it was not pre-planned. It was, of course, but, then, so was the staged civility shortly before kick-off at Stamford Bridge last September, and such public displays rarely convey an accurate picture.
Benitez evidently sensed as much, judging by his astute, if slightly cynical, assessment of Mourinho on Wednesday. Who started it all may remain a matter of conjecture, but one thing is clear. Neither adversary is prepared to end it just yet. -
tis time got no garcia
