Ramos, booted out of Tottenham five months ago and
branded a Premier League failure, held nothing back as he laid into
his old foe Benitez and spelt out his plans to conquer the
Champions League.
Real are one down after the last-16 first-leg clash.
That was the eighth time Ramos has lost to Kop boss Benitez in 11
career meetings. But snarling Ramos roared: “I’m not having the
idea that Benitez got one over on me in the first leg.
“Liverpool turned up without any intention of trying to
play football, hung on for a 0-0 and got lucky with a deadball
situation for their goal. “It was a totally undeserved win. If they
try and play that way at Anfield — and I guess they will — then all
we need to do is score and we’ve got a great chance of going
through.
“Losing to a team playing with so many men behind the
ball did our morale a lot of damage and we’ve really got a thorn in
our side — we’ll get rid of that at Anfield.
“My prediction is we’ll play a beautiful game of
football because we simply have to win and we are going into the
second leg with phenomenal pride and self-belief. “The players have
told me that they’ll treat it like the Champions League final
itself and we’ll sweat blood in order to eliminate
Liverpool.
“I’ve got absolutely no fear of what lies ahead. With
all the respect in the world for Liverpool and Rafa Benitez, I’ve
been a coach at some of the great stadiums in the world, either in
charge of the home side or with the opposition team.
“Coincidentally I never took Spurs to Anfield so it
will be my first time on the bench there. But Anfield just isn’t a
bigger deal than the Bernabeu, the San Siro or the Camp Nou — and
I’ve seen all those before. We aren’t there as tourists, we are in
Liverpool to win and then enjoy that side of the
experience.
“It’s a bit of a disadvantage that Liverpool have had
nearly seven days to rest and prepare while we had to play the
Madrid derby at the weekend — but we can drive ourselves on to
victory thanks to the hunger and pride we’re taking to Anfield.
“These types of games tend to be decided by little
psychological details rather than simply by which side is in better
shape physically. “The key to Real Madrid´s success is that my lads
never, ever surrender. My team represents the glorious European
tradition of Real Madrid — which is that you always go out and play
to win.
“You never moan about injuries, suspensions, how the
opposition treat you or whether the bookies have you as
overwhelming underdogs for any reason. “At this club the only thing
that matters is winning — and playing well.”
Keeper Iker Casillas added: “We’ve got back our
dominance of Spain in the last two years and now we want to
dominate Europe once again. “The legends say its special to play at
Anfield. Well, I want to feel how special it is to WIN there and
we’ll go after the victory from the first minute.
“All we need is just a touch of luck. And I’ll take any
victory, even a 1-0 and extra time.” Former Chelsea, Arsenal and
Portsmouth star Lassana Diarra added: “I’m quite sure we’ll win
there. We can impose a style of play which can really damage
Liverpool.”
Cynics may argue Ramos’ fighting talk stems from the
fact he does not want Bernabeu bosses to replace him with Benitez
at the end of the season. But several of the players who have been
coached by both Ramos and Benitez insist the Liverpool boss has a
mean streak that they want to address.
Keeper Andres Palop, double UEFA Cup winner with Ramos
and La Liga winner under the current Liverpool coach rapped:
“Benitez is a great manager but, at a personal level, he leaves you
feeling like you don’t even exist.
“I always felt that the only importance I had for him
was in training or a match.
“You never, ever got a single word from him.
“Nothing escapes Benitez, in fact sometimes he gives
his players too much information. In comparison Jaunde is a guy who
likes to unify his players and who’ll give the same treatment and
opportunities to anyone in the squad without thinking about
hierarchy.”
Full-back Josemi, who won a Champions League medal for
Benitez in Istanbul after playing for Ramos at Malaga, added
“Juande’s a better guy. “That day-to-day relationship with his
players is something that Rafa doesn’t go for.”
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