Rafa eyes Istanbul inspiration

13 April 2009 14:03
Liverpool boss Rafa Benitez believes his side will need the spirit of Istanbul to overcome Chelsea in their UEFA Champions League quarter-final with Chelsea. The Reds face a massive task to reach the semi-finals at Stamford Bridge after losing the first leg at Anfield 3-1 last week. Liverpool need to win by three clear goals to progress and they will be aiming to repeat their heroics in the 2005 Champions League final in Istabul when they came from three goals down to beat AC Milan. Asked if his side could call upon the inspiration of Istanbul, Benitez said: "It would be good and could be helpful. "If we have the fans behind us and can give them something from the beginning, then it would be a very good inspiration. "You approach the games away thinking about winning. In this case, if it is possible, we need to score an early goal and then we will play with more confidence." Encouragement Benitez also admitted Liverpool could take heart from the fact that Bolton managed to score three goals against Chelsea at the weekend. Asked if he was encouraged by Bolton's showing at Stamford Bridge, Benitez added: "Yes. If you play well and have a bit of luck, you can score a goal, so we will see. It will be good for the club if we can win, so we will try to win." Benitez also defended Liverpool's use of zonal marking from set-pieces after seeing his side concede two goals from corners in the first leg and the Spaniard has no plans to change his tactics in West London. "They (Chelsea) have six or seven players that are really good in air, and that was clear the other day," noted Benitez. "We talked about zonal marking but we scored against Blackburn who use man-to-man marking and yesterday you could see goals conceded between Aston Villa and Everton using man-to-man. "So in the end it depends on the quality of the players in the air. "It has been good for us in the past so hopefully it (zonal) will be good in the future."

Source: SKY_Sports