Liverpool looks forward to Man Utd clash

LIVERPOOL (AFP) – Rafael Benitez believes Liverpool's Champions League humiliation of Real Madrid has set the stage perfectly for his side to cut Manchester United down to earth in Saturday's make-or-break Premier League clash.

Benitez admits Liverpool must win at Old Trafford or forget about catching their rivals in the domestic title race, and a Fernando Torres-inspired 4-0 demolition of Real could hardly have been better preparation.

"When you have an important game coming up, if the players play well and score four goals against a top side like Real Madrid you have to be really pleased," the Spaniard said. "As a manager maybe it is the best way to approach a big game."

The return of Fernando Torres from injury helped inspire what was arguably Liverpool's finest display of the season, although their fans would be guilty of wishful thinking if they were to anticipate United's defence conceding as many chances as Real's hapless back four did here on Tuesday evening.

The irrepressible Torres opened the scoring after quarter of an hour, a penalty from Steven Gerrard killed the tie and the Liverpool captain's second and a late effort from substitute Andrea Dossena sent Benitez's men into the last eight for the fourth time in his five seasons in charge.

Adopting an unexpectedly bold approach, Benitez once again demonstrated his tactical nous on the European stage as Real were caught cold by Liverpool's high-tempo pressing, as well as being unable to cope with the pace and trickery of Torres.

"We knew that maybe they were expecting that we would play deep and try to play on the counter-attack," Benitez said. "From the beginning we tried to put pressure on them and we kept on top of them from the beginning to the end. They found it difficult to deal with our tempo."

For Real boss Juande Ramos, the defeat, which means Real have failed to advance beyond this stage since 2004, represents a blow to his chances of continuing in his job beyond the end of this season.

The former Sevilla and Tottenham manager admitted Liverpool deserved to go through but voiced grievances over the manner of their first two goals, claiming Torres and fouled Pepe in the build-up to the first while describing the penalty as doubtful.

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Pizarro double sends Milan crashing out

MILAN, Italy (AFP) – Werder Bremen stunned mighty AC Milan by coming back from a two-goal deficit to draw 2-2 and send the Italian giants crashing out of the UEFA Cup at the San Siro.

Milan were cruising at half-time as they led 2-0 in their round of 32, second leg tie through goals from Andrea Pirlo and Pato but a stirring second-half fightback from Werder saw them through on away goals after a 3-3 draw on aggregate.

Milan president and Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi was already fuming after the Italians conceded a late equaliser last week in Germany but this latest collapse at home could bring coach Carlo Ancelotti's job into question.

The final whistle was met with a chorus of jeers from the pitiful home crowd that numbered less than 24,000 but Ancelotti remained defiant about his position.

"I don't feel under threat even if I take all the responsibility," he said.

"I'm not trying to mask it, the season has been a bad one but now we have to try to achieve our last objective (finishing in the top three in Serie A).

"It won't be easy, we've got to try to play to the best of our abilities."

Milan are already out of the Italian Cup and trail city rivals Inter Milan by a massive 11 points in the league, meaning the UEFA Cup had seemed their only remaining realistic hope of claiming silverware this season.

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