To be honest I'm not happy with the draw, cause if it wasnt us to win the Europa League, I would like Benfica to do so. They're playing some very nice football this season and I like a few of their players.
But obviously I have a lot of confidence we'll beat them as we are very capable of beating any team in this competition. We seem to be getting back to our best form and Liverpool in Europe are always specials occasions. I'm sure the players will want to go all the way to the final.
As I said, Benfica are in very good form in their home league - they play a nice passing, attacking style, which we should be aware of, and take advantage of their faults.
This is their usual lineup:
Quim (Julio Cesar)
Maxi Pereira - Luisão - David Luiz - Coentrão (Cesar Peixoto)
Javi Garcia
Ramires - Di Maria
Pablo Aimar
Saviola - Cardozo
A few random comments about their players
Cardozo is one of my favourite players. Capable of scoring many goals, play as a target man, and also create chances for his teammates with great vision. Di Maria is a good left midfielder, who has recently been linked to Chelsea. Ramires is a Brazilian international, strong midfielder who helps defence and attack. Javi Garcia is a good defensive midfielder that Real Madrid probably regret letting go. Saviola will score thousands of goals in Portugal, but I still wont be convinced... against Marseille he was sh*t as I expected.
I'm not a big fan of Luisão, although he seem to be one of the fans favourites and the team captain. David Luiz is a promissing CB though. Maxi Pereira was their best player in the tie against Marseille, but on the left they've got 2 midfielders playing out of position (Cesar Peixoto or Fabio Coentrão), much more attacking minded.
Logged