RAFA ON CHELSEA, GRANT AND TROPHIES
Paul Hassall 29 April 2008
Rafael Benitez is confident his side can break their Stamford Bridge hoodoo and book a place in the Champions League final in Moscow. Here's what Benitez told reporters in full at Melwood this morning.
Rafa, how are you looking squad wise? The team is ready. We are focused, concentrated and have confidence.
Have you had the better preparation out of the two sides for this match? I think that we were prepared. Now we have half-time in the tie and we will be prepared for Wednesday.
Do you feel Chelsea's win over Manchester United at the weekend mayhave taken something out of them? It was a good game between two good teams and I thought Chelsea played really well in the first-half. In the second-half they had some problems but I think it is a different game in a different competition with different teams.
Do you think Chelsea have the bottle to win both the Champions League and the Barclays Premier League? It could be difficult for them. They have had four days between the last game and Wednesday so I think they will have enough time to prepare for this game and after that they can be focused because they have a good squad.
Do you feel they have the nerve though, to effectively go on a win both competitions and effectively play for Avram Grant's job? I always say the same, that I think he is doing a good job. He is in a very good position in the league and in the Champions League so I think he is doing a good job and I think he is a person with experience.
Do you think Chelsea were lucky in the first-leg against you? I think Chelsea will analysing everything and I think they will try to take advantage of the away goal.
The late goal was obviously a blow. Did you just put it down to a case of bad luck? Yes, sometimes these things happen, so you must just look towards the next game. You know the result so you must try to prepare the next game properly, We know we need to score so we will try to score.
You must also be aware that Liverpool have yet to score at Stamford Bridge under yourself... Yes but this is something we can change tomorrow.
Is there any cause for concern from that statistic? Not really. I don't know how many games they are without losing, so when you talk about Chelsea over the past four or five years, they are a team that are progressing and improving so I think it is normal. The majority of teams have problems there.
So you are confident your team can go there and do what so many others have failed to do - and win? I remember the last game at Stamford Bridge when we had chances and I think that we were the better team, but, sometimes you cannot reflect these things if you do not score.
Does the fact that it is the Champions League, a completion you do well in, make a difference too? Yes, it's another competition totally different. The mentality, the atmosphere, the time of kick-off - everything will be different.
How will your season be judged if you don't get through? I'm not really worried about how the season will be judged. It is more about how can we progress in this competition and can we feel happy with ourselves after the game. I think it is important to know we have guaranteed fourth position. That has been the key over the past few years and now we must try to go to the final.
Will you only see it as a success if you make it to the final? Success for us is to win trophies. But when you cannot, you must try to do the right things, it is as simple as that.
What about the officials...You had a bit to say after the first leg didn't you? You have seen the record of this referee...he has officiated six games and five times the local team has won, with only one away team winning - Valencia against Chelsea. That is very curious.
So you are not concerned this referee could have a similar impact on the second leg? I think that the referee has experience and he knows that if he is strong it will be okay.
Is it a worry for you though, given that you felt the officials had an influence on the first leg? In the first one the referee wasn't really good in any decision but hopefully it will be different now.
Do you feel you are due a break after what happened in the last few seconds of the first-leg? I was really disappointed at the end. But after watching the game I was really pleased with the performance of my team, so I was very happy with the work rate of the players and I felt that we played well at times. I was very happy with the performance of the team.
So do you feel Chelsea were lucky and that hope it evens itself out in the second leg? Yes, clearly they were lucky because Petr Cech made two or three saves, so they were lucky, yes,
Has anyone given you any selection problems after the win over Birmingham at the weekend? Yes. Yesterday we were training and practising and thinking about ideas, but we still have another session to come. At the end of that I will see how they are and after that we will start talking about the team for Chelsea.
And finally, are you confident of reaching the final? Yes.
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Rafa sounding very confident there, I've heard on the radio this morning that the ref for tomorrow is an Italian, hope he's not an Inter Milan fan
, we definitely require a strong referee to deal with dogbreath's diving and Terry's fouls on Torres.
Wonder if there will be a place for Pennant in the team?
Getting very pumped up for this game already I am, will be interesting to see tonight's result........Come on Barca !!
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