SOCCER: UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE INTER MILAN (0) v LIVERPOOL (2) Mass celebrations invariably attract unwanted guests and two will have haunted Internazionale as the Italian champions commemorated their centenary until the early hours of yesterday morning.
The prospect of facing Liverpool with a two-goal deficit and minus two first-choice central defenders would dampen the revelry at any club desperate to transfer domestic dominance on to a Champions League stage. The blossoming partnership of Fernando Torres and Steven Gerrard intensifies Inter's hangover.
The mutual appreciation that produced Torres' 25th goal of his debut season in English football and Gerrard's 19th of the campaign against Newcastle United is not confined to the pitch.
Liverpool's leading goalscorer heralded his captain as "maybe the best player in the world" yesterday and for Gerrard, whose 10th league goal equalled a season's best on Saturday, the knowledge he no longer carries the club's hopes alone is as uplifting as his recent freedom to attack.
One week on from Cesc Fabregas' dismantling of Milan at San Siro, Gerrard expects a second Spaniard to inflict further misery on their city rivals.
"We will be looking to play on the counter-attack at the San Siro and Torres plays that game better than anyone around," said the Liverpool midfielder.
"Not only can you stick the ball over the top and let him chase it, but look at Marseille - he'll make things happen by himself too. He roasted (Marco) Materazzi in the first game. He (Materazzi) might think he was hard done by, but he could have been booked for a bad tackle before he had even had one yellow, never mind two, and it just shows how easily his pace and strength unsettled a World Cup winner. The lad who comes in for Materazzi won't be looking forward to his 90 minutes against Fernando."
Nicolas Burdisso is expected to replace the suspended Materazzi although Ivan Cordoba leaves a bigger void in the heart of the Italian defence than the temperamental former Everton player.
The Colombian was outstanding at Anfield, his diminutive frame belying the force that obstructed Liverpool for 46 minutes against 10 men, and his exit through a knee injury proved a tipping point that Dirk Kuyt took full advantage of nine minutes later.
The subsequent strike from Gerrard means Inter must become the first club in 16 years of Champions League competition to overturn a 2-0 first-leg scoreline, and the form of Torres presents another big obstacle to their ambition of winning the European Cup for the first time since 1965.
"I wouldn't swap him for any other striker in the world at the moment," Gerrard added. "He has been massive for us and gives us so many different options up front. He is banging them in and always looks a threat everywhere he plays.
"Fernando has made life tough for the foreign boys who come over to England. When you look at the impact he's made in about seven months here, it means no one can make excuses about taking time to settle. I actually think England suits him better than Spain. He is suited to the constant flow, and rough and tumble, of the Premier League better than the stop-start technical La Liga.
"In footballing terms he is just a kid really, and is going to get better and better. That is a frightening thought, not for us, but for the defences that are going to come up against him for the next five years - hopefully longer."
Torres' signing, and seamless transition, ensures that the Inter coach, Roberto Mancini, has more problems to address than the obstinate defending that Jamie Carragher has regularly orchestrated for Liverpool in Europe in recent years.
Carragher will reach a landmark 100th European appearance for the club at San Siro, the first Liverpool player to do so, and memories of his last display on Italian soil, a goalless draw in the quarter-final against Juventus in 2005, bolsters confidence.
Gerrard said: "We did the job we had to do at Anfield, and did it brilliantly, but we've not qualified for anything yet. The last eight is 90 minutes away and we might have to play better than we did at Anfield to go through. They are going to fly at us from the first whistle, but we can defend all night if we have to and we believe we will worry the hell out of them.
"There will be a reluctance to over-commit against us because they got nothing at Anfield - no change from the defence, no possession and no time to settle. We'll be going for them again because we know we can score and kill the tie."
Probable teams
INTER MILAN: Cesar; Maicon, Burdisso, Chivu, Zanetti; Figo, Cambiasso, Stankovic, Jimenez; Ibrahimovic, Cruz.
LIVERPOOL:Reina; Finnan, Carragher, Hyypia, Aurelio; Gerrard, Mascherano, Leiva, Babel; Kuyt, Torres.
Referee: T Ovrebo (Norway).
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