pre season friendly against lazio

[badtodabone]

read this on the offal but its in the media watch section and i cant find any mention of it anywhere else

BEFORE embarking on a whistle-stop tour of five European nations in the space of three weeks, Liverpool start their 2008 pre-season programme just a Xabi Alonso long shot away from manager Rafael Benitez’s house.

 

Well not quite, but Tranmere Rovers’s Prenton Park ground is even closer to the Spaniard’s home in Caldy than Anfield.

 

The visit of their Premier League neighbours from across the Mersey is expected to produce the biggest crowd of the season for the League One side and will no doubt provide a welcome cash boost for the hosts.

 

The memorable cup runs that boosted Tranmere’s coffers in the not too distant past seem to have dried up in so the prospect of Benitez’s superstars playing on the Wirral is sure to lead to a full house.

 

Rovers, who memorably faced Liverpool in a six-goal FA Cup quarter-final thriller in 2001, eventually going down 4-2, will hope to give a good account of themselves but may have to bring in a few more new faces ahead of the game.

 

Gareth Edds is Moore’s only signing to date this summer while Paul McLaren, Shane Sherriff, Calvin Zola, Steve Davies and Robbie Stockdale have all departed.

 

Liverpool then swap Birkenhead for a Swiss training camp and will play two friendly matches in the homeland of new right-back Philipp Degen.

 

First up are FC Lucerne, coached by former Swiss international playmaker Ciriaco Sforza.

 

The club finished sixth in the 10-team Swiss Super League last season and their most notable former player for Liverpool fans is none other than Anfield’s ‘supersub’ David Fairclough.

 

Before packing their bags with Toblerone and watches, Liverpool face Poles Wisla Krakow in the Swiss village of Friborg.

 

Reigning Polish champions, Wisla, have won their domestic league five times since the turn of the 21st century.

 

After leaving Switzerland, Liverpool head up to Germany to face Hertha Berlin.

 

Hertha finished 10th in the Bundesliga last season and the game will take place at Berlin’s Olympiastadion – infamous for the 1936 games when Adolf Hitler snubbed the achievements of black US athlete Jesse Owens.

 

Liverpool then return to Benitez’s homeland to face Villarreal, who are known in Spain as ‘The Yellow Submarine’.

 

A runners-up finish in La Liga last season sees the team Benitez signed Pepe Reina from back in the Champions League next term.

 

Along with fellow newly-crowned members of Spain’s European Championship-winning squad, Fernando Torres, Alvaro Arbeloa and possibly Xabi Alonso if he’s still at the club, the goalkeeper can expect a warm reception from the home crowd.

 

Led by former Everton manager Walter Smith, Rangers need little introduction to Merseyside fans.

 

Going into the final month of last season Smith’s side were still dreaming of completing a ‘quadruple’ of trophy wins but had to make do with a brace of domestic cups after being edged out by great rivals Celtic in the race for the title and losing 2-0 to Russians Zenit St Petersburg in the UEFA Cup final despite bringing more than 100,000 fans with them to Manchester.

 

Liverpool’s final away game of the summer sees them travelling up to the Norwegian capital Oslo to tackle Valerenga.

 

Valerenga who currently lie 10th in the 14- team Tippeligaen after 11 matches have fielded several notable Premier League players over the years including Henning Berg, Lars Bohinen, John Carew, Tore Andre Flo and Steffen Iversen while their current squad includes 39-year-old former Manchester United defender Ronny Johnsen.

 

Finally, Liverpool have pencilled in their first home friendly for five years against Italians Lazio.

 

The Roman club, who became regulars on English football fans’ television screens in the early 1990s when they signed Paul Gascoigne, finished a disappointing 12th in Serie A last season.

 

Their current squad includes French midfielder Ousmane Dabo, who Joey Barton pleaded guilty to assaulting in a training ground incident in May 2007 when the pair were together at Manchester City

 

nice to have a pre season at Anfield for a change

Edited July 4, 2008 by badtodabone

[Kahnee]

read this on the offal but its in the media watch section and i cant find any mention of it anywhere else

nice to have a pre season at Anfield for a change

 

Defo

 

Cheyrou should come back for that

[jon_hall]

That's from yesterdays Daily Post.

 

Was going to be versus Athletico Madrid but there's a chance we might play them in CL qualifier.

[Murphman]

That's from yesterdays Daily Post.

 

Was going to be versus Athletico Madrid but there's a chance we might play them in CL qualifier.

 

 

Jesus, how the hell can we get a side as good as Athletico, I thought the seeding system made it impossible for us to play a top Serie A, Bundislega or La Liga side in the qualifiers?

 

Bring on the Champions of Luxembourg!!

[Kahnee]

Bring on the Champions of Luxembourg!!

 

And watch us scrape a 1-1 draw over there

[Rimbeux]

Jesus, how the hell can we get a side as good as Athletico, I thought the seeding system made it impossible for us to play a top Serie A, Bundislega or La Liga side in the qualifiers?

 

Bring on the Champions of Luxembourg!!

 

I think the seedings are team specific at this stage, so if AM have no recent record to speak of in Europe, they will be in the bottom half of the draw and we'll be in the top. As of next season I think (not sure if this got through), the draw will be fixed so the 4th placed sides from the bigger leagues along with the 3rd placed from the next level, WILL be meeting each other, and the 1st or second placed sides from smaller leagues will be kept away from them. Please correct if anyone knows different

[John am Rhein]

And watch us scrape a 1-1 draw over there

 

An away goal? Result!!

[Clay Davis]

Will go to this, went to the Lazio one last time. Neil Mellor chopping Nesta was amazing and as always is mentioned Cheyrou was outstanding.

Also went to AK Graz though...

*Shudder*

[Guest Scot]

wouldn't give Nazio the $$

[slapnuts]

Will go to this, went to the Lazio one last time. Neil Mellor chopping Nesta was amazing and as always is mentioned Cheyrou was outstanding.

Also went to AK Graz though...

*Shudder*

 

 

I thought it was Jaap Stam he chopped?