Champions League

Benitez urges officials to be wary of Drogba antics

10:21 BST, Tue 29 Apr 2008
[-] Text [+]
 Email  |   Print  |   Digg This
 
Chelsea's Didier Drogba (L) is lifted in the air by team mates during a training session at Liverpool's Anfield stadium in Liverpool, northern England, April 21, 2008. Liverpool will play Chelsea in the first leg of their Champions League semi-final on Tuesday. REUTERS/Phil Noble (BRITAIN)

By Jeremy Butler

LIVERPOOL, England, April 29 (Reuters) - Rafael Benitez wants referee Roberto Rosetti to take a strong line with Chelsea forward Didier Drogba as Liverpool attempt to reach the Champions League final for the third time in four years on Wednesday.

The Liverpool manager believes Drogba has a penchant for going to ground very easily under challenges and does not want the Italian official to be fooled into awarding fouls.

Ivory Coast international Drogba upset Benitez in the first leg at Anfield by his antics in a game that ended 1-1 when Liverpool fullback John Arne Riise scored a stoppage time own goal.

The result has set up an intriguing semi-final second leg at Chelsea's Stamford Bridge.

"He (Drogba) is very, very strong but he falls down. He slips a lot, "Benitez told reporters on Tuesday.

"Everybody can see this every game, it is very clear and hopefully the Italian referee, who has some experience in Europe will see it as well."

A bigger concern for the Liverpool manager, however, is finding a way to score at Stamford Bridge, something that has eluded the Spaniard in eight games since he took charge at Anfield in 2004.

"It is a statistic but they can be changed very quickly," he added.

"We need to score so we will try to score.

"We don't have any problem with Stamford Bridge. They haven't lost for one hundred games or something like that in the Premier League and that means they are very strong at home.

"But we will try to score our goal. We don't need to win, just to draw 2-2 will be enough."

Liverpool won the two semi-final confrontations between the sides in 2005 and 2007 but were helped by playing the second leg at Anfield.

Chelsea also lost to Monaco at the same stage in 2004.

Benitez believes his side hold a psychological advantage as Chelsea fear a fourth exit at the penultimate stage in five seasons.

"I think they want to win clearly and all their supporters will push and try to support the team," he added.

"The players know it's an important game for them. They will be a little bit under pressure... we will be under pressure too because we want to win a trophy this year."

Any person accessing the football section of this website is prohibited from any unauthorised re-production of any photographs and or text content other than for the purposes of viewing the same as part of the web site.   
30 Aug 00:00 Man Utd v Fulham -
27 Aug 20:05 Arsenal 4 - 0 FC Twente FT
27 Aug 20:05 Liverpool 1 - 0 Standard Liège FT
27 Aug 19:45 Olympiakos 1 - 0 Anorthosis FT
27 Aug 19:45 Marseille 2 - 1 Brann FT
27 Aug 19:45 Atlético Madrid 4 - 0 Schalke 04 FT
27 Aug 19:45 D. Zagreb 1 - 3 S. Donetsk FT
27 Aug 19:45 S. Prague 0 - 0 Fiorentina FT
Who will win the Premier League this season?
16%
Arsenal
35%
Chelsea
18%
Liverpool
31%
Manchester United

Most Popular articles

advertisement