Source: Team_Talk
Carra confident of Reds progress
Jamie Carragher admits Liverpool have not made their Europa League campaign easy but has faith they can reach next month's final in Hamburg.[LNB] A 1-0 deficit to Atletico Madrid is far from insurmountable next week at Anfield, where they have staged second-leg comebacks in the previous two rounds against Lille and Benfica.[LNB]It promises to be another rousing night on Merseyside and Carragher is confident they will get the result they need.[LNB]"We expected to play a bit better in Madrid but even though we lost 1-0 I think we'd take that," said the centre-back.[LNB]"We limited the damage and it is all still to play for.[LNB]"We've definitely made it difficult for ourselves in the Europa League as we've always been behind going to Anfield but somehow we've always seemed to come through it.[LNB]"It is not something we've planned on doing but after our last two trips it's something we've had to do and we know exactly what we need to do.[LNB]"It will be a long 90 minutes and we have to be patient. The job is to put them under pressure, play at a high tempo and hopefully it will be enough.[LNB]"It will be another great European night."[LNB]Liverpool, who have become the first English club to play in 16 European semi-finals, are now just 90 minutes away from their third European final in the last six years.[LNB]But even though they are so close to booking a place in Hamburg on May 12, Carragher said the players did not feel any additional pressure.[LNB]"Not to get the away goal is disappointing but we are always confident with second legs at Anfield," the 32-year-old said.[LNB]"I don't think it makes any difference it's the second leg of a semi-final.[LNB]"Atletico will be pleased with the score and be thinking if they get an away goal we'll need three, but it's up to us to stop that.[LNB]"We've been in lots of different situations. We were in the (2007 Champions League) semi-final with Chelsea and we lost the first leg 1-0 and eventually went through on penalties, so it is something we are aware of."[LNB]Manager Rafael Benitez is also targeting a clean sheet in the second leg to make his side's task much easier.[LNB]"We have confidence. We have to score and a clean sheet would be fantastic because that would mean we just have to score two goals," said the Spaniard.[LNB]"It is really important for us to play the second leg at Anfield, where we've scored three goals against Lille and four goals against Benfica.[LNB]"We couldn't give the fans the away goal they wanted but hopefully at Anfield we can give the fans a lot of goals.[LNB]"I've said 20 times before we can reach the final and I still say yes."
