Cannavaro pleads patience

Real defender says team don't need to go all out attack at Anfield

By Lucas Brown   Last updated: 9th March 2009   Subscribe to RSS Feed

Cannavaro pleads patience

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Real Madrid defender Fabio Cannavaro has warned his team-mates to be patient when they face Liverpool on Tuesday.

Real trail 1-0 from the first leg of the UEFA Champions League last-16 tie thanks to Yossi Benayoun heading the all-important away goal at the Bernabeu two weeks ago.

Cannavaro knows that despite his side's disadvantage they only need to score once themselves to throw the tie wide open again.

The Spanish champions know they must improve on their disappointing first-leg performance as they struggled to find a way past the Liverpool defence.

"We must be extremely patient at Anfield because a goal could arrive soon or arrive in the last minute," he said.

"We have to have a lot of patience, make no mistakes at the back and the goal will surely come.

"If we score we would force Liverpool to come out and play. If they want to win the game they are going to have to play and this is the moment where we could take advantage."

Defensive

When asked if he thought Liverpool would set up as defensively as they did in the Bernabeu the Italian responded by declaring: "I'm sure that's how it will be.

"The best result for them was 1-0 at the Bernabeu because now we have to have a great game and score a goal.

"As I said for me it's important to go there and have a lot of patience. We shouldn't look at the scoreline.

"We must start the game knowing we could score a goal in the first minute or the last. It's the same to us. The important thing is to score."

The former Juventus centre-back believes the key to getting that all important goal is to focus their passing down both flanks.

"The key is that we don't have to play down the middle. We need to open up the pitch a lot, search for a one on one down the wings," he added.

"We need everyone from (Arjen) Robben, from Wesley (Sneidjer), from Marcelo, if we want to win at Anfield we have to be a team because we don't have players of the quality of (Lionel) Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo."

Disagree

Meanwhile, Cannavaro's centre-back partner Pepe disagrees with his view that Liverpool will just sit back and look to defend their lead.

"The return leg will be different. I don't think Liverpool will focus so much on defending," he stated.

"We should take advantage of that."

Joint top goalscorer Gonzalo Higuain was left out of the starting line-up for the 1-1 home draw with Atletico Madrid at the weekend and Pepe believes the striker's rest will benefit the team on Tuesday.

"We should be prepared for anything," he added. "The coach wanted to save his strength for the match in Anfield because he is a very important player.

"We should support the coach in the decisions he makes."