BayArena braced for fightback

By Mark Bennett in Leverkusen

França's historic goal at Anfield two weeks ago has given Bayer 04 Leverkusen coach Klaus Augenthaler hope of reaching the UEFA Champions League quarter-finals.

Historic goal
Deep into stoppage time in the first leg of the Round of 16 tie, the Brazilian scored the first-ever goal by a Bundesliga team at Liverpool FC to reduce the Premiership side's advantage to 3-1 and set up an intriguing return at the BayArena on Wednesday night.

'Everything to play for'
"França's goal could prove extremely valuable. I know we are capable of scoring two goals against Liverpool and I know my players desperately want to score the goals we need. We have got everything to play for," said Augenthaler, who signed a new contract with Leverkusen on Tuesday.

'Odds against us'
Nevertheless, he realises that his team face a tough test against Rafael Benítez's side. "We made life hard for ourselves. We had a string of chances at Anfield and I am still disappointed with the result," explained the 47-year-old. "The odds are stacked against us. Liverpool are 3-1 up, they will have Steven Gerrard back - they are the favourites."

Sink or swim
Despite having to replace important players in Juan, Roque Junior, Paul Freier, Robson Ponté and Jens Nowotny, the coach is putting faith in youngsters like defender Jan-Ingwer Callsen-Bracker. "The young players have done well in recent games. To be honest, I prefer to throw them in at the deep end because that way everybody will find out if they are good enough," added Augenthaler.

Donovan delight
Elsewhere, with so many regular starters absent, Landon Donovan cannot wait to stamp his mark on the Champions League. "I don't want to just be on the field because this is a huge chance for me. I want to take control of the game and lead the team to victory. We must put Liverpool under pressure from the beginning and we are not allowed to give them a rest," the United States forward said.

'Come here to score'
Liverpool manager Benítez obviously has different plans and insisted that his team would not look to a purely defensive approach. "We have come here to score a goal because at times attack is the best form of defence. We can't only defend because it could go terribly wrong," said the Spaniard.

Leverkusen threat
Moreover, the 44-year-old is adamant that his side should not just concentrate on stopping Dimitar Berbatov, who had a string of chances a fortnight ago. "If we do that then França and Andriy Voronin could punish us. Leverkusen have excellent strikers and we are aware of the threat," said Benítez.

'Win hands down'
When asked if Leverkusen's injury problems in defence and the suspensions to Ponté and Freier could work in his team's favour, the coach simply replied: "Take a look at our list of absentees. We definitely win that contest hands down."

Survivor Šmicer
Benítez will at least be able to look to Vladimír Šmicer in midfield. Šmicer has missed most of the season through injury but is back in time for his second visit to the BayArena. Three years ago, he was part of the Liverpool side that lost 4-2 at Leverkusen in their quarter-final second leg.

Unpleasant memories
"The stadium here brings back some unpleasant memories for me. We came here with a 1-0 lead three years ago and failed to hang on. But that is in the past now. Both teams are very different and hopefully we will be able to get a different result," said the Czech international.