Ramos ready for Anfield reckoning

eal Madrid CF are looking at next week's UEFA Champions League first knockout round decider at Liverpool FC as "almost a final", according to the Spanish outfit's right-back Sergio Ramos.

Anfield mission
Yossi Benayoun gave Liverpool a memorable 1-0 victory at the Santiago Bernabéu last Wednesday, heading in after 82 minutes to put his team firmly in the driving seat ahead of Tuesday's return encounter at Anfield. Ramos and Co refuse to accept their chance has gone, though, perhaps mindful that their opponents have lost a home leg four times in the last nine seasons following an away victory – even if they have still managed to progress on each occasion. "Just like them, we need to find an away goal," said the defender. "It's almost a final; we're playing for qualification and we all know we have to put pressure on them to try to get a goal, although we'll have to be wary."

Domestic form
Los Merengues can take heart from their domestic form, having extended their run of consecutive Liga wins to ten at RCD Espanyol on Saturday. That brought them to within four points of leaders FC Barcelona at the summit and they will hope to reduce the gap still further in Saturday's derby at home against capital rivals Club Atlético de Madrid. The Liverpool defeat was their first reverse since 13 December, in fact. "It was one of our first defeats, but we have to learn from it and not forget that [the tie] isn't just 90 minutes – it's 180," added Ramos. "There will be one more match and we'll need to be very concentrated for the next 90 minutes. We all want to win this knockout round."

Anfield factor
The 22-year-old Spanish international likewise expects to be lifted by the Anfield atmosphere, denying that the noise levels could prove intimidating. "I don't know how it is for everyone else, but for me personally to play in a stadium like that is great," he said. "I feel it's something that motivates and can help as well." Those sentiments were echoed by left-back Gabriel Heinze, who has previous experience of the famous stadium after spending three seasons with Manchester United FC. "The atmosphere there is something beautiful; it's part of football," said the Argentinian. "It won't affect us because we're used to playing in this type of atmosphere. We just have to get a good result."