Rafa Benitez’s former Liverpool assistant Pako Ayestaran has explained why he believes the Reds will fail to overturn a 3-1 first leg deficit against Real Madrid in their Champions League quarter-final.
Ayestaran was his compatriot’s number two when Liverpool pulled off arguably the most-dramatic comeback in their history as they won the 2005 Champions League final on penalties after trailing 3-0 at half-time to AC Milan.
The Reds have also enjoyed stirring European recoveries under current manager Jurgen Klopp at Anfield, defeating his previous club Borussia Dortmund 4-3 in the Europa League quarter-final second leg after being 2-0 down at the interval and famously thrashing Barcelona 4-0 in the Champions League semi-final second leg after losing 3-0 in the Camp Nou.
The famous Anfield atmospheres generated by the home crowd in the past helped to inspire those results but without the help of the fans, Ayestaran reckons the reigning Premier League champions have too much to do against the 13 times European Cup winners.
Sport Witness quote him as telling Marca: “Real Madrid gain a lot when Anfield is empty.
“The atmosphere I experienced in the quarter-finals with Juve and in the semi-finals with Chelsea, wow, that’s heavy. It pushes your team a lot.
“That game at Anfield is not easy. But Madrid have got a lot of nerve from living in that kind of atmosphere with top players. But now they win.
“Now they have positive momentum. They have players in midfield like Casemiro, Kroos and Modric who are at the level expected of them.
"And that inertia means that any element that comes into the team can do well.
“They (Liverpool) are at the opposite point, with a lot of doubts throughout the year. The absentees make them a sea of doubts.”
Ayestaran, who had worked alongside Benitez for 11 years, quit Liverpool in 2007 so did not join him in his subsequent post at Real Madrid in 2015.
Despite having been employed by both clubs and Real being Madrid-born Benitez’s boyhood side, the former Reds boss himself outlined how he believes Klopp’s side can turn the tie around in an interview published over the weekend.
