With the desire for a positive result in the Nou Camp a week today only heightened by the recent £470 million takeover of the club by George Gillett Jr and Tom Hicks, the American sports tycoons, Rafael BenÍtez, the manager, will be quietly thankful his players have more than a week to prepare for the game instead of the distraction of an FA Cup fifth-round tie this weekend.
While Rick Parry, the chief executive, has been in Dallas this week discussing Gillett and Hicks's plans for a new £215 million, 60,000seat stadium in Stanley Park, work on which will commence next month, BenÍtez has been overseeing a warm-weather training camp in Portugal that he hopes will prove the perfect preparation ahead of their round of 16, first-leg tie in Spain.
Dirk Kuyt believes that if they are to have a chance of beating Barcelona, the team can ill-afford a repeat of the 2-1 defeat by Newcastle United on Saturday, when Liverpool fluffed a series of chances.
“It is vital we are more clinical in front of goal,” the Holland forward said. “If we create that many chances against Barcelona, we will win because normally we take our chances.”
Álvaro Arbeloa, the right back signed from Deportivo La Coruña last month, is giving his new teammates tips about how to handle Ronaldinho, the Brazil playmaker whom he has already marked this season.
Liverpool, meanwhile, could hear today whether Javier Mascherano has been given clearance by the FA Premier League to play this season.
Lawyers for Liverpool and the FA Premier League have been locked in talks since the Argentina midfield player agreed to join the club from West Ham United last month.
Mascherano has already played for two clubs this season, West Ham and Corinthians, but even though Fifa, the world governing body, waived a ruling that dictates a player cannot play for more than two clubs between July 1 and June 30, the Premier League will not ratify the transfer until they are clear who owns the player.
The father and agent of Iriome González, the Tenerife winger, has claimed his 19-year-old son has turned down the chance to join Liverpool in the summer.