Gerard Houllier will usher his Liverpool team back on to the European stage in Portugal this evening having again been reminded that for all his best efforts this season, there are still questions to be answered, still critics to be silenced.
On Saturday evening, just seven days after his players had returned the League Cup to Anfield, the malcontents were queuing up to have their say on the various radio phone-ins following Liverpool's defeat at Leicester. After all, 12 months ago, Liverpool's astonishing loss of form cost them a Champions League place.
Having beaten just the Serie A leaders, Roma, in the previous round, Liverpool are fancied to reach the UEFA Cup semifinals, although Houllier is taking nothing for granted.
"The UEFA Cup is a tournament awash with teams of very high quality," said Houllier. "If the inference is that we will, in some way, find it easier against Porto, that is wrong because I think everyone appreciates how good they are."
On Sunday, Porto were jeered by their own fans despite a 2-0 win over Farense which kept them in third place in the Portuguese league.
Brazilian striker Jesus Pena scored both their goals to end a barren spell of seven matches that coincided with Porto's loss of form.
International winger Nuno Capucho said that if the home side played with patience and intelligence tonight there was no reason why they could not win.
"We cannot rush like madmen after an early goal. We have to be intelligent and take things calmly or else we will leave ourselves open to counter-attacks," he said. "What we have to do is play our best, confident that in the big games that is usually what happens," he said.
Houllier is likely to stick with his policy of playing two strikers. "I prefer to go for goals, it is how we have played in all our away legs in Europe. There are only about five games where we haven't scored this season," he said.
He will be without the Finnish forward Jari Litmanen who is still not recovered from a calf muscle injury. Goalkeeper Sander Westerveld and centre-back Stephane Henchoz picked up knocks at Leicester but should be fit.
PORTO (Probable, 4-5-1 ): Ochinnikov; Nelson, Costa, Aloisio, Esquerdinho; Capucho, Paredes, Deco, Santos, Drulovic; Pena.
LIVERPOOL (Probable, 4-4-2): Westerveld; Babbel, Hyypia, Henchoz, Carragher; Barmby, Gerrard, Hamann, Smicer; Heskey, Owen.
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