Rafael Benitez set for audition at Real Madrid

24 February 2009 23:47
Real Madrid v LiverpoolKick-off: Wed Feb 25, 7.45pm; Santiago Bernabeu, MadridTV: Sky Sports 2, Sky Sports HD1Radio: BBC Radio Five Live[LNB]Beat Juande Ramos's resurgent team and Benitez will surely find more than one contract offer at his fingertips come the summer. [LNB]Prove, yet again, that he has the magic touch to deliver the 10th European Cup that is Real's obsession and one of the club's presidential hopefuls would surely come calling. [LNB]Tom Hicks and George Gillett, Liverpool's joint owners, would no doubt rush to acquiesce to whatever demands Benitez sees fit. [LNB]"I am not thinking about the future beyond the game," Benitez said last night. "I am not thinking about the past either. I am a professional, so I am just concentrating on my team and on this match, not on my contract. [LNB]"I don't feel I have anything to prove here. I still have a lot of friends from my days as a player and a coach, so it is nice to see them, but I want to win for my team, not for me. [LNB]"The game will not have any impact on my contract talks. You should not judge a manager on a single game, you should judge him on his career." [LNB]It is a subject Benitez has grown weary with in recent weeks, the constant denials and speculation making him irascible. Yesterday he even suggested he was blamed by some fans for Liverpool's domestic failures of the last 20 years. [LNB]But he is clearly relishing being back in his old haunt, effortlessly conducting a press conference in both English and Spanish, correcting his translator and joking with Jamie Carragher. [LNB]The Champions League brings out the best in Benitez. Two finals, one won and one lost, plus a semi-final in four years bear testament to that. No wonder he is seen in Madrid as the man to deliver la decima, their 10th European crown. [LNB]Never mind that he has never won at the Bernabeu as a manager, or that Fernando Torres has never scored here, or that Pepe Reina has invariably been on the losing side. "There is always a first time," he said. [LNB]More importantly, he remains calm despite being faced with having to decide on Steven Gerrard's fitness this morning. Gerrard trained with the rest of the squad but Benitez admitted he would have to assess the risk of playing the England international after three weeks out with a hamstring injury. [LNB]Carragher, though, believes Liverpool's chances of progressing do not rest solely on Gerrard's shoulders. "If you look at 2005, there were plenty of games when Steven didn't play and we still won," he said. [LNB]"Obviously we're a better team with him in it and we hope he plays. He's one of the best in the world. But he's not our only hope of winning." [LNB]The noises emanating from Madrid are appropriately bullish for Europe's form side. The club's president, Vicente Boluda, has confidently predicted a 3-0 home win tonight, followed by a 2-1 triumph at Anfield. [LNB]It is a dismissive attitude which pervades the squad. Juande Ramos, the coach whose temporary stay in the hottest seat in world football will become permanent should he lift the Champions League trophy, has been more diplomatic, suggesting he is expecting a tie decided by fine margins, but the message has obviously not reached his players. [LNB]The talismanic Raul insisted enough has changed since the draw was made in December, a time when Real were in meltdown and Liverpool in the ascendancy, to suggest it is the Spanish side who are now favourites. [LNB]He said: "We are much better than we were when we were first drawn together. Liverpool have lost a little bit." [LNB]Arjen Robben, too, is hardly taking a respectful attitude to opponents whose recent record in the competition is better than anyone's. "Yes, I have unfinished business with Liverpool," said the winger, who twice lost semi-finals to Benitez's side as a Chelsea player. [LNB]"But when I was in England, I didn't like playing Liverpool. I much preferred the games with Manchester United and Arsenal, because Liverpool are not a team who play good football. [LNB]"They run a lot, they work hard and they're tactically well-organised. It is down to us whether we qualify." [LNB]No doubt Benitez will take pride in a withering assessment Robben may live to regret should Liverpool progress. After all, he may find himself with a lot of explaining to do to his new manager come summer. [LNB]

Source: Telegraph