- Title: ITALY: LIVERPOOL AND JUVENTUS PREPARE FOR CHAMPIONS LEAGUE FOOTBALL
- Date: 12th April 2005
- Summary: TURIN, ITALY (APRIL 12, 2005) (REUTERS) 1. VARIOUS OF LIVERPOOL TRAINING 2. LIVERPOOL NEWS CONFERENCE 3. (SOUNDBITE) (English) LIVERPOOL COACH RAFAEL BENITEZ SPEAKING ABOUT INJURY OF CAPTAIN STEVEN GERRARD BUT INCLUSION OF DJIBRIL CISSE AND XABI ALONSO 4. VARIOUS OF JUVENTUS TRAINING 5. ALEESANDRO DEL PIERO AT JUVENTUS NEWS CONFERENCE 6. JUVENTUS NEWS CONFERENCE 7. (SOUNDBITE) (Italian) JUVENTUS COACH FABIO CAPELLO SPEAKING ABOUT GAME (NO TRANSLATION AVAILABLE) 8. NEWS CONFERENCE 9. INTERIOR OF DELLE ALPI STADIUM Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
- Embargoed: 27th April 2005 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: TURIN, ITALY
- Country: Italy
- Reuters ID: LVAB86WY5QC0CHHV917PMLMLR99Q
- Story Text: Liverpool and Juventus prepare for Champions League .
Striker Djibril Cisse and midfielder Xabi Alonso are
in Liverpool's squad for Wednesday's (April 13) Champions
League quarter-final against Juventus in Turin.
France international Cisse has been out of action since
he broke his leg in two places against Blackburn Rovers in
October. Spaniard Alonso has only played in one reserve
game since breaking his ankle against Chelsea on New Year's
Day.
"He (Cisse) is a very powerful player and was a top
scorer in all his years in France," Liverpool manager
Rafael Benitez told a news conference at the club's
training ground in Turin on Tuesday.
"He could be important for us at the end of the game.
If you have a problem at the end he is a good option.
"Xabi can play, his ankle's not a problem. But he may
not have the physical condition to play at this level.
"He is a good passer and can control a game and we have
to decide whether he plays from the start or just the
second half."
Liverpool have travelled to Turin without inspirational
captain Steven Gerrard, who has a groin injury.
They beat Juventus 2-1 in the first leg at Anfield last
Tuesday but the Italian side won their three home group
games 1-0.
"They are winning a lot of games in the Champions
League 1-0 that is true," Benitez said.
"So we know we need to be compact in our defence, but
we will have our opportunities. We will try and score and
try to win the game. If you play to win, you can always
draw and that would be enough for us.
"But don't forget we scored twice against them and they
conceded three goals at the weekend (in a 3-3 draw with
Fiorentina). That makes five goals in two games and that
can give us hope."
Benitez must decide whether to stick with young
goalkeeper Scott Carson over experienced Polish
international Jerzy Dudek.
It was a mistake by Carson, 19, that allowed Fabio
Cannavaro to score an away goal in the first leg.
"Scott is a very good goalkeeper but I have yet to
decide who to play and I will check on both of their mental
and physical states," Benitez said.
Juventus striker David Trezeguet has been ruled out of
Wednesday's Champions League quarter-final, second leg,
match with Liverpool.
The French forward missed Saturday's 3-3 draw with Fiorentina due
to an ankle injury but was expected to
recover in time for the game at the Delle Alpi stadium.
However, Juventus coach Fabio Capello said on Tuesday
that Trezeguet was still struggling with the injury and
would not be included in the squad.
In Trezeguet's absence Capello will almost certainly
start with Swede Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Alessandro Del
Piero in attack -- both were on target against Fiorentina
with Ibrahimovic scoring twice.
Capello also has Uruguayan Marcelo Zalayeta as an
attacking option but the burly forward, who scored the
decisive second goal against Real Madrid in the last round,
is likely to start on the bench.
A 1-0 win would be enough for Juve to go through after
Fabio Cannavaro's 'away goal' at Liverpool and Capello
urged patience.
"Obviously we need a goal but we haven't to be in a
panic to get it," he said.
"Our defence is quick enough but we need to watch out
for their counter-attacks," added Capello.
"The important thing will be to get a grip of the game
in midfield," he said.
Del Piero said Juventus would need to probe Liverpool's
weaknesses but also warned they had to be careful of being
caught out on the break.
"One of their weak points could be our quick passing on
the ground, given that they are very good in the air," said
the Juve striker.
"But we have to watch out for the breaks because they
can come at you very quickly," he said.
But Del Piero was confident that the Italians could get
through to the semi-finals.
"In the last round we needed to score twice against
Real Madrid to go through and we did it. This time one
could be enough. They have a good scoring record away from
home though," he added.
JUVENTUS
Suspended: Alessio Tacchinardi (second of two-match ban)
Injured: Ciro Ferrara (leg), Olivier Kapo (thigh),
Jonathan Zebina (thigh)
Doubtful: none
LIVERPOOL:
Suspended: none
Injured: Steven Gerrard (thigh)
Doubtful: none
Probable teams:
Juventus: 1-Gianluigi Buffon; 7-Gianluca Pessotto,
21-Lilian Thuram, 28-Fabio Cannavaro, 19-Gianluca
Zambrotta; 16-Mauro
Camoranesi, 20-Manuele Blasi, 8-Emerson, 11-Pavel Nedved;
9-Zlatan Ibrahimovic, 10-Alessandro Del Piero.
Liverpool: 20-Scott Carson or 1-Jerzy Dudek; 3-Steve
Finnan, 23-Jamie Carragher, 4-Sami Hyypia, 21-Djimi Traore;
10-Luis
Garcia, 25-Igor Biscan, 11-Vladimir Smicer, 6-John-Arne
Riise; 13-Antony Le Tallec, 5-Milan Baros
Referee: Valentin Ivanov (Russia)
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