Benitez lauds attacking display (champion league)

Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez says Tuesday's 4-0 Champions League win over Real Madrid proves the Anfield outfit can play attacking football.

The Reds won 5-0 on aggregate to reach the quarter-finals and Benitez said: "I know people in Spain think my teams do not attack.

"But look at this result and the 119 goals we scored last season.

"We're ranked number one in Europe and a result like this against a great club like Real Madrid is very pleasing."

Fernando Torres opened the scoring for Liverpool in the second leg before Steven Gerrard's double, which included a penalty for what was judged to be a Gabriel Heinze handball, and a late Andrea Dossena effort completed an impressive victory over the Spanish team.

Benitez was able to substitute Torres, Gerrard and Xabi Alonso as he switched his thoughts to Saturday's trip to Manchester United in the Premier League.

The Reds have to beat United to maintain their slim title hopes and Benitez believes the win over Real Madrid is the ideal confidence booster ahead of the game.

"We have an important game next but we have played well, scored four goals and are very confident. That is the best way to prepare for such a game," he stated.

"It was important for us to play that well but we are now facing a very good team and we must win to close the gap at the top.

"We have a few days to enjoy this result and make sure we are positive and prepared properly for the game at Old Trafford."

Liverpool's record in the past five seasons has put them top of the European rankings and they blew Real Madrid away with a storming start.

PHIL MCNULTY BLOG Liverpool, in my opinion, will continue to miss out on the Premier League but in Europe they are the team no-one wants to draw

"We played really well from beginning to the end and I am really pleased for the fans," added Benitez.

"Why are we so good in Europe? I can only say that we approach European games with confidence and in the right way.

"Torres and Gerrard played very well but I do not like to talk about one or two players, everyone was very good, from the first to the last on the pitch.

"They were expecting us to play deep and play on the counter-attack but we were on top of them right from the start and they never really recovered from that opening spell.

"The last five years this team has been very good in Europe, we have shown that continually. Our fans appreciate that and understand what we have achieved."

Deflated Real Madrid coach Juande Ramos had his doubts about Liverpool's opening two goals but conceded the Reds were deserved winners.

Liverpool were excellent and deserved to go through Real Madrid coach Juande Ramos

"We are very disappointed and it is sad that we are out and we are obviously not happy with the result," said the former Tottenham boss.

"We conceded two early goals and I had my doubts about both. There looked to be a foul for the first and the penalty was not clear at all.

"But Liverpool were excellent and deserved to go through. They were too good on the night and there is no point in denying that, they deserved to go through.

"We tried all we could but the way the goals came so early, it made the game complicated as soon as we went two behind."
Source:http://news.bbc.co.uk

Champion(Juventus 2 Chelsea 2)

Michael Essien helps Chelsea see off Claudio Ranieri and Juventus

Juventus 2 Chelsea 2 (Chelsea win 3-2 on aggregate)

Back with a bang: Chelsea's Ghanian midfielder Michael Essien scores past Juventus goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon

Matt Hughes, Deputy Football Correspondent, Turin

Graphic: Anelka takes a wider view

On the eve of this match Guus Hiddink offered only platitudes when asked what qualities a team required to win the Champions League, but his players provided a far more eloquent answer. In a performance of bravery, resilience and no little luck, Chelsea booked their place in the quarter-finals by doing just enough to draw a spellbinding match, in doing so demonstrating that they have what it takes to return to Italy for the final on Wednesday, May 27.

Chelsea have become experts in navigating their way through the latter stages of this competition, reaching the semi-finals in four of the past five years, and this latest group of players have shown that they are equally tournament-savvy.

As with Liverpool, Chelsea’s main men seem to raise their games on the biggest of European nights, with Petr Cech, the goalkeeper, outstanding and Didier Drogba arriving in the nick of time to score the 83rd-minute goal that sealed their passage. Even those boys in blue short of their best, such as Michael Ballack, dug in to contribute when it mattered, the sign of a side who have yet to peak.

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Chelsea were second best for long spells against a Juventus team whose energy belied their advancing years, but such is the self-belief instilled by Hiddink that they never looked like losing, even when the home side were laying siege to their goal midway through the second half. The transformation since that supine surrender at Old Trafford two months ago has been simply extraordinary. What a difference a manager makes.

Chelsea’s modus operandi does them few favours, though any lingering doubts that the club were correct to dispense with Luiz Felipe Scolari can now be dispelled. It is certainly difficult to imagine that these players would have absorbed so much pressure before striking on the counter-attack under the likeable Brazilian, but they are a different proposition under Hiddink. Were it not for the fact that he made such a spectacularly bad appointment in the first place, it would be time to lavish some praise upon Roman Abramovich, the owner.

In a little more than a month, Hiddink has turned a collection of unhappy, self-centred individuals into a team. Before last night his main contribution had been hard work and organisation, but even allowing for a perfectly good goal from Drogba being disallowed, another ingredient was added to the mix — luck. The Dutchman rolled the dice with an outrageously bold team selection and his numbers came up.

Hiddink’s gamble on Michael Essien’s fitness initially backfired as Chelsea were overrun in the first half, but it was eventually vindicated as the Ghana midfield player showed remarkable stamina to follow up Frank Lampard’s shot to tap in an equaliser on the stroke of half-time. Essien’s brain may have been scrambled by being played out of position on the right of midfield, but his legs, lungs and heart remain strong.

Hiddink’s removal of Essien just after an hour was also well judged, as by that stage even he was tiring and his replacement, Juliano Belletti, played a crucial part in seeing Chelsea over the line. The Brazil player was one of few players to distinguish himself under Scolari and he confirmed his status as an invaluable squad player, shoring up the midfield and getting into an advanced possession to square the ball for Drogba to score his team’s second equaliser of the night.

Chelsea would have gone through on away goals even without Drogba’s fourth goal in five matches, but were never comfortable and several obvious weaknesses remain. Given the lack of creativity elsewhere in his squad, Hiddink has little option but to persevere with Drogba and Nicolas Anelka up front, leaving them vulnerable against opposition able to attack with width.

Juventus did just that in an opening 45 minutes in which they dominated, Cristian Molinaro providing José Bosingwa and Essien with all sorts of problems down the left before Vincenzo Iaquinta gave the home side a deserved lead. The Italy striker, playing in a midfield role, drifted in from the left to play a beautifully judged one-two with David Trezeguet, bisecting Alex and John Terry with his run to shoot past Cech. Three minutes later, Ballack gave the ball away to Alessandro Del Piero, whose shot was tipped over.

Cech also had to be at his best during the second half as Juventus pushed for a second, even after being reduced to ten men when Giorgio Chiellini was sent off for a second booking. The Czech Republic goalkeeper denied Trezeguet from point-blank range, but he was powerless to prevent Del Piero giving Juventus the lead for a second time, from the penalty spot, to set up a thrilling finish. The return of Ricardo Carvalho from a hamstring injury should solve some defensive problems, as Cech cannot always be relied upon to save them.

Chelsea somehow found an extra gear to leave the Old Lady lamenting their fate as the fat lady sang, but will need to add greater quality to undoubted character if they are to take part in the Roman carnival in May.

Juventus (4-4-2): G Buffon — Z Grygera, O Mellberg, G Chiellini, C Molinaro — V Iaquinta (sub: S Giovinco, 61min), Tiago, C Marchisio, P Nedved (sub: H Salihamidzic, 45) — D Trezeguet (sub: Amauri, 78), A Del Piero. Substitutes not used: A Manninger, J Zebina, C Poulsen, L Ariaudo. Booked: Salihamidzic, Chiellini, Del Piero. Sent off: Chiellini.

Chelsea (4-1-3-2): P Cech — J Bosingwa, Alex (sub: R Carvalho, 89), J Terry, A Cole — J Obi Mikel — M Essien (sub: J Belletti, 66), M Ballack, F Lampard — D Drogba, N Anelka. Substitutes not used: Hilário, F Malouda, Deco, S Kalou, M Mancienne. Booked: Cech, Drogba, Cole, Anelka.

Referee: A Mallenco Undiano (Spain).

Source:www.timesonline.co.uk

Toro Rosso aiming to beat recession

Toro Rosso aiming to beat recession, says Franz Tost

Toro Rosso will buck the trend and increase staff numbers this year while other Formula One teams axe jobs in the face of the credit crunch, Franz Tost, the team principal, said today.

Toro Rosso, based in Italy, are the smallest outfit in Formula One, with an annual budget of just over 100 million euros, a spending level three times below some manufacturers’. Tost said that cost-cutting measures, such as a ban on testing during the season, introduced by the sport’s governing bodies will help. The team’s engine costs are likely to fall by half compared with last year. However, Toro Rosso must become a full constructor – designing and building their own car. They have previously shared their basic chassis with Red Bull, their sister team.

“We will add staff in the design department as well as the aerodynamic department,” Tost said. “But in the rest of the departments we are quite full with people. Currently in Faenza [their base] we have around 178 people and at the end of the season and beginning of 2010 I assume we will have around 250 people.”

Toro Rosso, powered by Ferrari, are the former Minardi team renamed after being bought by Red Bull in 2005. They made a big breakthrough last year when they won the Italian Grand Prix with Germany’s Sebastian Vettel.

Asked whether he felt small teams could continue to have a decent level of performance, Tost made clear that they would always be struggling to match the big ones even with a reduction in costs.

“We have to do the job as efficiently as possible, and I think we are doing this,” he said.“I’m quite sure you can’t now compare Toro Rosso with Ferrari or McLaren or BMW, they have a much better infrastructure and also more people. But we will increase our infrastructure, we will build it up and bring in people and we will see where we end up,” he added.

Tost said the extra staff would not necessarily come from other teams. Christian Horner, the head of Red Bull, told reporters at his team’s car launch last month that he expected to shed at least 20 positions while Renault have also cut jobs in Britain and France. “Every team in the pitlane will be facing a downsizing to some degree greater or lesser because of the reduced activities,” Horner said.

The former Honda team, with around 700 employees last year, are expected to compete with substantially fewer people in their new guise of Brawn GP. The Formula One season starts with the Australian Grand Prix at the end of March.