'Focus on Lille, not United'

17th Mar 2010 - Latest News

Rafael Benitez insists Liverpool cannot afford to have one eye on Manchester United when they lock horns with Lille in the Europa League on Thursday night.

VIDEO: Rafa chats to .tv ahead of Lille test>>

The Reds enhanced their top four hopes with a 4-1 triumph over Portsmouth earlier in the week, but with an important European tie next up, the boss is eager to focus on Les Dogues - and not Sunday's Old Trafford test.

Watch Rafa's pre-match press conference>>

"The first game was easy to prepare for because it was Monday," he told his pre-match press conference.

"Now we have two important games. We have to concentrate on the first one. After that we will think about Man United but we cannot have an eye on the second one in case we make a mistake in this one.

"We will try to win because we want to progress in the Europa League and after that we will try to beat Manchester United."

Benitez believes the performance against Pompey has given the players an important boost going into the clash with the French outfit and remains optimistic about their Europa League hopes.

"It will be positive to keep winning games, for the confidence of the players, but it's also an opportunity to win something," he said.

"We will try to do our best and we know we need to win to progress."

He added: "I think they (Lille) have quality. They also have some confidence now. The main thing is we will play at Anfield and we know what that means. We will have the fans behind us, so hopefully we will do our job properly and we can play well."

Author: Paul Hassall at Anfield
Tagged: benitez , lille , rafa , rafael benitez



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Give aqualani a tissue and tell him to be on that field against lille. =]
shorty270490
17th Mar 2010 14:20
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