Liverpool FC - FC Internazionale Milano MATCH PRESS KIT Anfield, Liverpool Tuesday 19 February 2008 - 20.45 CET First knockout round, - Matchday 7 Contents 1 - Match background 7 - UEFA information 2 - Match facts 8 - Match-by-match lineups 3 - Squad list 9 - Competition facts 4 - Head coach 10 - Team facts 5 - Match officials 11 - Competition information 6 - Domestic information 12 - Legend Match background Liverpool FC and FC Internazionale Milano have not met in UEFA competition since Bill Shankly held the Anfield reins and Giacinto Facchetti and Sandro Mazzola were blossoming into greatness at San Siro. A memorable European Champion Clubs' Cup semi-final contest unravelled in 1964/65 with Liverpool winning the first game 3-1 before their advantage was overturned in Milan as the home team ran out 3-0 victors. • The triumph helped Inter to their second successive final as they went on to retain the trophy and, in their continuing search for a first UEFA Champions League crown, will be hoping this rematch after a wait of 43 years proves a happy omen. • On 24 October, the prospect of remaining on Europe's greatest stage beyond Christmas seemed a distant possibility for Rafael Benítez's men. They had just recorded their second defeat in three games, losing 2-1 away to Beşiktaş JK, and the Group A table showed them with just a single point, gained in a 1-1 draw at FC Porto on Matchday 1. • The Reds then won their next three fixtures, scoring 16 goals and conceding only one, concluding with a 4-0 victory away to Olympique de Marseille which clinched second place in the section with ten points, one less than Porto. • Liverpool have met Italian sides on eleven occasions and played AC Milan in both their UEFA Champions League finals. • They will fondly recall the 2004/05 showpiece in Istanbul when they lifted the trophy after a penalty shoot-out following a remarkable fightback from 3-0 down. Last season the Rossoneri seized the opportunity for revenge with a 2-1 triumph in Athens. At this stage last term Liverpool dismissed FC Barcelona, winning 2-1 in Spain before losing 1-0 at home, while Inter bowed out to Valencia CF on away goals. • After the first meeting with Inter in 1965, Liverpool went on to lose two of their next three home fixtures with Italian visitors, beating Juventus in the 1965/66 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup preliminary round but then being second best to Genoa CFC and AS Roma in UEFA Cup ties. Since then, Anfield has proved a fortress against Serie A opposition with Roma and Juventus both losing there. Last updated 19.02.2008 9:58:11CET Match background 1 Liverpool FC - FC Internazionale Milano Tuesday 19 February 2008 - 20.45 CET MATCH PRESS KIT Anfield, Liverpool • Liverpool, who, like Inter, are looking for their third quarter-final appearance in four seasons, have also met Roma and Juventus in European Cup finals, beating Roma on penalties at their opponents' own Stadio Olimpico home in 1984 before losing to the Turin club the following season in Brussels. Four months earlier they had also faced Juventus in the UEFA Super Cup in Turin, losing 2-0. • Inter have been successful on three of their nine visits to face English clubs and have won the last two convincingly, both in the UEFA Champions League. They won 4-1 against Newcastle United FC in the 2002/03 second group stage and 3-0 at Arsenal FC in the group stage the following season. Earlier, they had won 1-0 at Norwich City FC in the 1993/94 UEFA Cup. • The Nerazzurri's first trip to England took them to Merseyside and Everton FC, who they held to a 0-0 draw in the preliminary round of the 1963/64 European Cup, winning the home leg 1-0. In nine home-and-away ties they have won six and lost two while one of them, against Aston Villa FC in the 1994/95 UEFA Cup, ended with the aggregate scores level. The English side went through on penalties. • The Nerazzurri's eighth attempt to win the UEFA Champions League began with defeat at Fenerbahçe SK but they followed that with five successive wins to finish on top of Group G with a four-point advantage over their Turkish rivals. The Italian champions won away at PFC CSKA Moskva 2-1 and PSV Eindhoven 1-0. Match facts LIVERPOOL UEFA milestones • None 2007/08 UEFA Champions League statistics • Two Liverpool players have featured in all eight UEFA Champions League games, including qualifying this season: Pepe Reina and Sami Hyypiä, while Jamie Carragher and Steven Gerrard played all six games in the group stage. Reina and Carragher have played all 540 minutes in the competition proper to date. • Liverpool scored 18 goals in the group stage, the most of the 32 sides in the competition. Disciplinary information • Carragher's next yellow card will incur a suspension. Latest domestic information • Saturday 16 February: Liverpool 1-2 Barnsley FC (Dirk Kuyt 32; Stephen Foster 57, Brian Howard 90) Hyppiä returned to the home defence for the FA Cup fifth round tie in the absence of Martin Škrtel, out with a calf strain. Charles Itandje deputised for Reina in goal, while Fernando Torres was again absent with a hamstring injury. • "We had a lot of chances but it was the same situation as in other games; we cannot take our chances to finish games," said manager Rafael Benítez. "I am really, really disappointed. We had chances, their goalkeeper [Luke Steele] made some fantastic saves and they scored in the last minute. Sometimes this happens in football, it is the cup. It is difficult to explain." • Liverpool last lost to a Championship side in the FA Cup in 2004/05, when Burnley FC won 1-0 in a third-round replay at Turf Moor. They bounced back from that setback and went on to win the UEFA Champions League that season. • The defeat was Liverpool's first in seven outings at Anfield in all competitions since a 1-0 reverse against Manchester United FC on 16 December. It was also only their second loss in 13 matches. Last updated 19.02.2008 9:58:11CET Match facts 2 Liverpool FC - FC Internazionale Milano Tuesday 19 February 2008 - 20.45 CET MATCH PRESS KIT Anfield, Liverpool • Liverpool had reached the fifth round by overcoming Luton Town FC of the third tier 5-0 in a replay at Anfield after a 1-1 draw, before recovering from twice falling behind at home to non-league Havant & Waterlooville FC at Anfield to eventually prevail 5-2 in the fourth round. • Benítez's side have also laboured in the Premier League since they successfully concluded their UEFA Champions League Group A campaign, winning only three of their subsequent ten matches to lie fifth in the standings, 19 points behind leaders Arsenal FC with a game in hand. Although only two games – at home to Manchester United and at West Ham United FC – ended in defeat, both by 1-0 scorelines, a run of four successive draws left the Merseyside club struggling to stay in touch at the top. • Reina is the only Liverpool player to have appeared in all 25 of the club's league games this season, and has been on the field for all 2,250 minutes of their matches to date. • Reina's clean sheet against Sunderland AFC on 2 February was his 50th in the league for the club in his 92nd appearance. He becomes the fastest goalkeeper in Liverpool history to achieve the feat, eclipsing the old mark of 95 set by Ray Clemence. • Thirteen of Liverpool's 40 Premier League goals this season have come in the final 15 minutes of matches, with 25 coming in the second half as a whole. In contrast, only two of the 17 league goals they have conceded have come in the first half-hour, with none at all in the opening 15 minutes. • Liverpool's hopes of lifting the English League Cup were ended at Stamford Bridge on 19 December when holders Chelsea FC ran out 2-0 winners in the quarter-final tie. Injury news • Fernando Torres – out since 6 February (hamstring) • Álvaro Arbeloa – out since 21 January (abdominal) • Andriy Voronin – out since 25 January (knee) • Xabi Alonso – out since 28 October (metatarsal) – returned on 19 December • Jermaine Pennant – out since 24 October (broken leg) – returned on 2 January • Daniel Agger – out since 15 September (metatarsal) Miscellaneous • Gerrard was included in the uefa.com users' Team of the Year 2007, which was announced on 19 January. It was the third year in a row the Liverpool captain had been selected for the team. • Škrtel was named Slovakia's 2007 Player of the Year on 4 February. Agger, meanwhile, collected a similar accolade for Denmark in January. • Carragher took over the captain duties from Gerrard for the FA Cup replay against Luton on 15 January in recognition of his 500th appearance for Liverpool. • Benítez has been awarded with an Honorary Doctorate from the Miguel Hernández University (Elche) in his native Spain. A ceremony will take place on 4 June, although the Liverpool manager was presented with the official document for his award on 6 February. January transfers • In: Martin Škrtel (FC Zenit St. Petersburg) Alex Cooper (Ross County FC) • Out: Mohamed Sissoko (Juventus) Last updated 19.02.2008 9:58:11CET Match facts 3 Liverpool FC - FC Internazionale Milano Tuesday 19 February 2008 - 20.45 CET MATCH PRESS KIT Anfield, Liverpool • Škrtel is the only addition to Liverpool's UEFA Champions League squad, with Sissoko deregistered along with Jack Hobbs, Craig Linfield and Robert Threlfall, who have joined lower-league sides Scunthorpe United FC, Chester City FC and Hereford United FC respectively on loan.