Rafa ignores Jose's salvo
Friday, July 27, 2007
LIVERPOOL manager Rafael Benitez refused to be drawn into a new dispute with Jose Mourinho yesterday after the latest verbal salvo from the Chelsea boss.
Mourinho raised the stakes ahead of their Aug 19 Premiership clash when he said the big-spending Benitez was under pressure to deliver Liverpool's first league title in 17 years.
But Benitez preferred to focus on today's Asia Trophy final against Portsmouth, offering a temporary respite in the long-running feud.
"It's an important match for us, it's a final and we want to win the trophy," he said.
"This season we don't know what will happen, but we will keep working and prepare for the English Premier League."
Benitez has bagged record signing Fernando Torres in a summer shopping spree also including Ryan Babel, Andriy Voronin and Yossi Benayoun.
The 18-time champions have not won the domestic league since 1990 and have failed to mount a serious challenge since the Spanish manager arrived in 2004.
"I think winning nothing last season was frustrating for them, but they've got a good squad and good players, so they'll be better," Mourinho, from Portugal, said this week.
"You could say the pressure is a bit higher on Liverpool because, at this moment, they cannot point at other people."
The Iberian rivals have clashed on several occasions, notably over Liverpool's controversial 2005 Champions League semi-finals win over Chelsea.
Meanwhile, Liverpool will be at full strength for the Asia Trophy final after Torres was given permission to play and skipper Steven Gerrard recovered from injury.
Benitez said Spanish international Torres and Dutch forward Babel had international clearance for today's match against Portsmouth after a bureaucratic bungle ruled them out of the semi-finals.
"Torres and Babel have been cleared and have permission to play," Benitez said, adding that England star Gerrard had recovered from a stomach problem. "I think he's OK. He will be all right."
Torres and Babel were left out of Tuesday's game because they did not have the international clearance needed to appear in a Premier League-endorsed competition.
The triple absences disappointed thousands of fans at Hong Kong Stadium and forced Benitez to field a makeshift line-up which toiled to a 3-1 win against local minnows South China.AFP
Mourinho raised the stakes ahead of their Aug 19 Premiership clash when he said the big-spending Benitez was under pressure to deliver Liverpool's first league title in 17 years.
But Benitez preferred to focus on today's Asia Trophy final against Portsmouth, offering a temporary respite in the long-running feud.
"It's an important match for us, it's a final and we want to win the trophy," he said.
"This season we don't know what will happen, but we will keep working and prepare for the English Premier League."
Benitez has bagged record signing Fernando Torres in a summer shopping spree also including Ryan Babel, Andriy Voronin and Yossi Benayoun.
The 18-time champions have not won the domestic league since 1990 and have failed to mount a serious challenge since the Spanish manager arrived in 2004.
"I think winning nothing last season was frustrating for them, but they've got a good squad and good players, so they'll be better," Mourinho, from Portugal, said this week.
"You could say the pressure is a bit higher on Liverpool because, at this moment, they cannot point at other people."
The Iberian rivals have clashed on several occasions, notably over Liverpool's controversial 2005 Champions League semi-finals win over Chelsea.
Meanwhile, Liverpool will be at full strength for the Asia Trophy final after Torres was given permission to play and skipper Steven Gerrard recovered from injury.
Benitez said Spanish international Torres and Dutch forward Babel had international clearance for today's match against Portsmouth after a bureaucratic bungle ruled them out of the semi-finals.
"Torres and Babel have been cleared and have permission to play," Benitez said, adding that England star Gerrard had recovered from a stomach problem. "I think he's OK. He will be all right."
Torres and Babel were left out of Tuesday's game because they did not have the international clearance needed to appear in a Premier League-endorsed competition.
The triple absences disappointed thousands of fans at Hong Kong Stadium and forced Benitez to field a makeshift line-up which toiled to a 3-1 win against local minnows South China.AFP
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