Eyes on Barnsley

Rafa Benitez has told his Liverpool players that Barnsley are more important than Inter Milan.

The Reds play the Championship side in The FA Cup Fifth Round this weekend and then face the Italians on Tuesday in the Champions League, but the Spanish coach wants his players to only worry about overcoming Barnsley at Anfield.

"We have been practising this week for both games but we have been talking about only one - the Barnsley match," he said. "We have to look at just winning against Barnsley and then look at Inter.

"I think it will be a tough game, for them it will be a final. They will be physically strong, so we must play well.

"We have watched four or five of their games, so we think we know them more or less.

"I am not talking to them about Inter Milan, we have not seen any games, I am just thinking about Barnsley. You must concentrate on your next opponents and we have confidence, but we must give maximum respect to the opposition.

"We have a chance to play at Anfield and progress. In the league we know we are in a poor position and need to improve but The Cup is another competition and we will try and get to The Final if that is possible."

In this year's FA Cup Liverpool have needed a replay to beat League One side Luton Town and were then pushed all the way by Havant and Waterlooville - 123 League places below them at the time of their Fourth Round clash - and Benitez says he has tried to put his finger on why lower league clubs so often trouble Premier League sides.

"I think it is because the passion for the competition is so strong," he addd. "It is fantastic.

"You see that for the players of some teams it is the most important game of the season, or even their lives.

"Sometimes you can see that one player is more talented than his opponent but they have more passion, more commitment and sometimes it is luck. If you score first it can be a massive difference and it is only one game, so anything can happen."