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04-19-2001, 06:56 AM
LIVERPOOL entertain Barcelona in the second leg of their Uefa Cup semi-final on Thursday night with the tie delicately poised after the goalless draw at Camp Nou two weeks ago and both sides are determined to reach the final in Dortmund next month.
In the other semi-final tie Alaves already have one foot in the final after their remarkable 5-1 win over Kaiserslautern at home two weeks ago and they will be confident of finishing the job off in Germany and reaching their first ever European final in an amazing debut in European competition.
Liverpool (0) v Barcelona (0)
Liverpool boss Gerard Houllier is confident that his side can continue their remarkable cup success this season by beating Barcelona and progressing through to their first European final since the 1985 European Cup final.
The Frenchman is banking on a sell-out Anfield crowd and the determination of his players to achieve a memorable result to overcome star-studded Barcelona and keep their hopes alive of a unprecedented cup treble.
"We know we have a good squad and a good team," said Houllier. "We know that if we perform well we can beat anybody and we can get to the final.
"Barcelona are a very experienced team, they are used to winning things. We know it's going to be a difficult task for us, but it is something that is achievable."
Houllier admitted that he wanted games like Thursday's at Anfield every season and that means qualifying for the Champions League is a necessity for The Reds this season.
"We want to have this sort of night at Anfield every fortnight, that's my ambition," said Houllier
"We have done well in this competition, losing only once against Roma to get to this stage, we've already had 11 European games this season and that's some record and challenge. Now we want to have this sort of game at this level all the time.
"We know we will have to take risks to score this time, but I hope that the atmosphere inside Anfield and the backing from our fans will carry us through.
"It will be a different game because we need to have a goal by the 90th minute. But I will not say how we intend to play.
"All I will say is that it will be very close. Both teams have a 50-50 chance of going through."
Houllier is expected to recall influential quartet Michael Owen, Steven Gerrard, Patrik Berger and Danny Murphy to the side having missed the dramatic win over city rivals Everton on Monday which means the goalscoring hero from that game Gary McAllister will have to content himself with a place on the bench.
The Reds are without long-term injury victims Jari Litmanen, who again misses the chance to face his old team, Jamie Redknapp, Vegard Heggem and Nick Barmby, while Igor Biscan is ineligible.
Barcelona go into the game with the pressure on to reach the final after a disappointing season in La Liga which currently sees them out of the places for next season's Champions League.
It is the Catalan giants's most crucial match of the season and they are determined to grab some silverware and coach Llorenc Serra Ferrer's, whose own future is very much in doubt, is confident that their class up front with Rivaldo, Patrick Kluivert, Marc Overmars and Luis Enrique will count.
"We have to maintain our fighting spirit throughout because we believe we are superior in terms of creativity and talent," said Ferrer
"Liverpool will concentrate on keeping a good defensive line and looking for the counter-attack but our objective will be to control the game, create chances and correct our defensive faults."
Barcelona are set to recall defender Carlos Puyol in place of Gabri, but veteran defender Sergi is rated doubtful as he is struggling with an ankle injury and has been unable to train.
Dutch defender Michael Reiziger, who missed the first leg at Camp Nou with a calf problem, is expected to return, but Abelardo and Gerard are still missing.
Hmm ko'ramiz bugun mani kunimmikan. Barcelonaga aniq qiyin bo'ladi, bunaqa himoya bilan mehmonda yengish qiyin. Lekin Barca baribir havfli. Manimcha 8-00da match bbc1 bo'sa kere
In the other semi-final tie Alaves already have one foot in the final after their remarkable 5-1 win over Kaiserslautern at home two weeks ago and they will be confident of finishing the job off in Germany and reaching their first ever European final in an amazing debut in European competition.
Liverpool (0) v Barcelona (0)
Liverpool boss Gerard Houllier is confident that his side can continue their remarkable cup success this season by beating Barcelona and progressing through to their first European final since the 1985 European Cup final.
The Frenchman is banking on a sell-out Anfield crowd and the determination of his players to achieve a memorable result to overcome star-studded Barcelona and keep their hopes alive of a unprecedented cup treble.
"We know we have a good squad and a good team," said Houllier. "We know that if we perform well we can beat anybody and we can get to the final.
"Barcelona are a very experienced team, they are used to winning things. We know it's going to be a difficult task for us, but it is something that is achievable."
Houllier admitted that he wanted games like Thursday's at Anfield every season and that means qualifying for the Champions League is a necessity for The Reds this season.
"We want to have this sort of night at Anfield every fortnight, that's my ambition," said Houllier
"We have done well in this competition, losing only once against Roma to get to this stage, we've already had 11 European games this season and that's some record and challenge. Now we want to have this sort of game at this level all the time.
"We know we will have to take risks to score this time, but I hope that the atmosphere inside Anfield and the backing from our fans will carry us through.
"It will be a different game because we need to have a goal by the 90th minute. But I will not say how we intend to play.
"All I will say is that it will be very close. Both teams have a 50-50 chance of going through."
Houllier is expected to recall influential quartet Michael Owen, Steven Gerrard, Patrik Berger and Danny Murphy to the side having missed the dramatic win over city rivals Everton on Monday which means the goalscoring hero from that game Gary McAllister will have to content himself with a place on the bench.
The Reds are without long-term injury victims Jari Litmanen, who again misses the chance to face his old team, Jamie Redknapp, Vegard Heggem and Nick Barmby, while Igor Biscan is ineligible.
Barcelona go into the game with the pressure on to reach the final after a disappointing season in La Liga which currently sees them out of the places for next season's Champions League.
It is the Catalan giants's most crucial match of the season and they are determined to grab some silverware and coach Llorenc Serra Ferrer's, whose own future is very much in doubt, is confident that their class up front with Rivaldo, Patrick Kluivert, Marc Overmars and Luis Enrique will count.
"We have to maintain our fighting spirit throughout because we believe we are superior in terms of creativity and talent," said Ferrer
"Liverpool will concentrate on keeping a good defensive line and looking for the counter-attack but our objective will be to control the game, create chances and correct our defensive faults."
Barcelona are set to recall defender Carlos Puyol in place of Gabri, but veteran defender Sergi is rated doubtful as he is struggling with an ankle injury and has been unable to train.
Dutch defender Michael Reiziger, who missed the first leg at Camp Nou with a calf problem, is expected to return, but Abelardo and Gerard are still missing.
Hmm ko'ramiz bugun mani kunimmikan. Barcelonaga aniq qiyin bo'ladi, bunaqa himoya bilan mehmonda yengish qiyin. Lekin Barca baribir havfli. Manimcha 8-00da match bbc1 bo'sa kere