It is normal for managers to make videos of opponents to show to their own
players. Rafael Benitez has one of Didier Drogba he screens for Jamie
Carragher and colleagues, but he would really like Europe’s referees to
watch. It’s not a tribute movie. Benitez is still smarting over the
striker’s antics at Anfield and is worried, unless there is different
officiating, that the second leg of the Champions League semi-final with
Chelsea could become another canvas for Drogba’s dark arts.
Not since the Beatles were playing to teenage girls in the Cavern Club has
there been such dramatic swooning in Liverpool as Drogba managed on Tuesday.
“He is amazing because he is massive [and yet goes down]. It is very
impressive,” said Benitez with caustic sarcasm. He was careful not to use
the word “diver”, wary of repercussions from the game’s authorities, but
made it plain he does not think the striker is always being genuine when he
tips from vertical to horizontal and claims a foul. Benitez was sore about
the number of free kicks Drogba won and, with Chelsea scoring in the 95th
minute, the amount of time added by Konrad Plautz, the Austrian referee, to
account for Drogba treatment for “injuries”.
“With Drogba it is important to have a good referee. You can’t do anything [to
stop him going down], but I will say it because it was so clear. Drogba was
given seven fouls and [Fernando] Torres three. Torres has bruises all around
his body. So from the first minute I was disappointed by the performance of
the referee,” said Benitez. He is calling for Wednesday’s match official to
be stronger with Drogba. “I have a lot of clips about him from over the
years and he surprises me. I have shown them to some of the players.
[Martin] Skrtel and Carra were really good against him, the only problem was
the referee giving fouls.”
Thinking back to his first encounter with Drogba, the 2004 Uefa Cup final
between his Valencia and Marseilles, Benitez said with a relishing nod:
“Ayala knew what to do.” Roberto Ayala steamrollered Drogba in the opening
seconds of the game, Drogba was generally subdued and Valencia won 2-0.
One-nil would do Liverpool on Wednesday and what Torres does will be just as
important as Drogba’s actions when the sides meet for the 20th time in four
years. Liverpool’s last goal at Stamford Bridge was in January 2004, before
Benitez arrived. “Always, statistics are for breaking,” the manager said.
He and his squad are intent on treating their eight goalless games on
Chelsea’s turf less as a form guide than as an anomaly that cannot endure.
“Our idea will be to score more than one and guarantee everything is okay,”
said Benitez boldly. “We don’t have anything to fear,” said Ryan Babel. “We
feel we will definitely score down there,” Steven Gerrard said. The
collective confidence is down to two factors. One, Liverpool believe they
outplayed Chelsea, not just on Tuesday but in two previous draws this
season, and that the Londoners are just not as impermeable under Avram Grant
as under Jose Mourinho. In Gerrard’s words: “The difference is we’ve never
gone to Stamford Bridge with Torres before. You will always have a chance
with a player like Fernando. He has been superb for us all season.”
Torres had his first poor big-game performance for Liverpool on Tuesday (in
two forgettable stints against Manchester United he suffered from lack of
supply) but Benitez said: “He’s very strong, mentally, don’t worry. He will
do well in the next game.”
In February, Torres missed a goalless draw in west London and Peter Crouch,
leading Liverpool’s attack, missed three opportunities, while Dirk Kuyt
squandered a good position by mis-controlling when clean through. “I think
it’s clear in that game we had chances and the other day we had chances and
I’m sure Torres will score. Sometimes you must be really disappointed in the
way everything is going, but we had our chances and played well and if we do
the same again we’ll go through,” said Benitez.
He may not have beaten a supreme Petr Cech but Torres’s speed and the angles
of his movement breached a Chelsea back four that does not appear as compact
and unified as when Mourinho was marshalling it. Paolo Ferreira plays with
less confidence than in his Mourinho era heyday, John Terry – nagged by
injuries – with less mobility and Ashley Cole with less defensive assurance
than his forerunner at left-back, William Gallas. Cole and Ferreira were
stretched by Kuyt and Babel on Tuesday and Torres was able to elude Terry on
one key first-half occasion. Cech denied him a goal but he scored from a
similar burst while embarrassing Tal Ben Haim at Anfield in August.
Chelsea – albeit not by much – have conceded more goals per game this season
than in the Mourinho campaigns and Liverpool, said Benitez, are better than
when they defeated these opponents at the same stage in 2007 and 2005. “They
are a very good team, but we were very good on Tuesday,” he added. We were
better than them clearly. In some games they play deep and then play on the
counter-attack but in this game we were controlling it and pushing them all
the time,” said Benitez. Babel had a blunter view. At full-time he was seen
in conversation with his former coach at Ajax and Grant’s No 2, the feisty
Henk ten Cate. What did he say? “I told him that they were lucky,” said
Babel. “He didn’t agree – he never agrees . . .”
Liverpool can talk about superiority and complain about Drogba as much as they
like. The reality is John Arne Riise’s brainstorm put them in a more
vulnerable position than at any point in their previous semi-finals with
Chelsea. One clean sheet, to add to the seven they have already achieved in
the Champions League, would send Wednesday’s home side to Moscow. Cech (“If
not for him we might already be through,” mourned Gerrard) looks back
to world’s finest goalkeeper standard after not being at his best for much
of the season. Michael Essien will be back to help Claude Makelele close the
game up. But Benitez does not believe uber-negativity will be possible. “The
game will be more or less the same as at Anfield,” he said, “because I don’t
see them waiting. You know what it is like, what it means with supporters,
when you are waiting and playing counter-attack at home. If you concede a
goal and lose, supporters will kill you. So I expect Chelsea to attack.”
Being caught in two minds is what Benitez hopes will be Chelsea’s downfall. If
not, he may forever bear a bitterness towards the guy who just falls down.
