Champions League: Liverpool Seeks a Place in the Quarterfinals

Liverpool seeks to take advantage of Inter’s weak defense in order to become the fourth English team to obtain a place in the Champions League's quarterfinals.

Next Tuesday’s game at the San Siro stadium will mean the end of the quarterfinals; Milan also played its game in the same stadium, therefore; this will take place a week later as FIFA does not allow the use of the stadiums in consecutive days.

Liverpool managed to win the game in Anfield with a score of 2-0 due to Dirk Kuyt and Steven Gerrard’s goals. Inter did play for more than half of the game with one less man after the expulsion of defense Marco Materazzi. The player’s removal is not the only concern for the Inter as also the Colombian Ivan Cordoba and the Argentinean Walter Samuel are injured.

Firmly; Gerrard affirms Inter is an experienced talented team and does trust the players will do whatever it takes to overcome the obstacles on the road; everyone is aware of the efforts involved to achieve their goal, which is winning the game, and be able to take part of the great event next May 21st in Moscow.

If Liverpool is able to move forward it will become the first of the four teams from the same country to be included in the quarterfinals stage. Manchester United, Chelsea and Arsenal are the other three English teams that already were classified, next to Barcelona (Spain), Rome (Italy), Schalke (Germany) and Fenernahce (Turkey).

The English team of Liverpool arrives to this game after four previous consecutive triumphs in the Premier League. This outstanding performance places the team in the fourth position overall and gives them the opportunity to still dream of becoming the Champions of the next season.

On the other hand; Inter heads the Serie A with a six points advantage and despite the difficulty to defeat Reggina; they managed a 2-0 score and the good performance of their Brazilian goalkeeper Julio César who caught more than one possible goal. It was Inter’s first victory after three games, including a first riot in the Italian tournament against Napoli as well as a pair of ties.

Inter's coach Roberto Mancini is also thinking of incorporating two other players; the Argentineans Julio Cruz and Hernan Crespo. Cruz is already recovered from an injury while Crespo is in good shape but left lightly hit after Saturday’s game. The team believes in giving their greatest effort as if they get eliminated it will be an impact on the Italian Tifosi.

Inter expects to repeat the same victory during the semifinals in the European Cup of 1965, when in a first round lost 3-1 in Liverpool before winning 3-0 at home then raising the trophy.