Rafael Benitez has told his Liverpool stars to close their ears to criticism coming out of the AC Milan camp.
The Italian giants have been quick this week to decry Liverpool as boring and defensive. But the Anfield chief insists he is not listening, and he wants the same reaction from his players as they prepare for Wednesday's Champions League final in Istanbul.
He said: "I am not interested in what people say about us, certainly not before the game. Afterwards, maybe. I am only concerned with preparation and winning, and it is not important what people say, and I don't need any more motivation.
"You should not lose your concentration talking or worrying about things that are said. It is 90 minutes against a good team, they have weak points, we have weak points, we need to be strong and to profit from their weak points."
Liverpool's fifth-place finish in the Barclays Premiership has also been cause for insults from Milan. But Benitez insists he is not surprised his team are in the European final, and claims they are better in cups than league matches.
He said: "I am frustrated with the Premier League form but happy with the Champions League. I have great confidence in my staff and when you see how the players train then you have great confidence that we can win many games. That is why I am not so surprised that we have got to this stage in Europe, but I am surprised that we have lost 11 away games in the league."
And Benitez has also warned his players not to take much notice of Milan's problems in beating PSV Eindhoven in the semi-finals.
Benitez said: "I am not worried about how Milan played in their semi-final, or the fact that people say they struggled against PSV. But I know that they still won because they have good quality players, and sometimes if the team does not play well it is down to the best players as individuals to make sure that the team does win. They did not play too well but they still won and are in the final, that is really all you need to know."
As for the difference between Liverpool's league and European form, Benitez added: "We have played better in the Champions League than in the Premiership. It is another style of football. It is different, you are not playing for three points, it is a cup tie and in the group stages even if you lose a game or two you can still qualify. After that in the knockout it is again different. Some teams play better over nine months and some play better in cups, and I hope we will do the same in the final."
Benitez is acutely aware of the might and massive experience Milan will bring to the final.
But he said: "To have experience is always important, even more so in these type of games. But for us we have nothing to lose and a lot of things that can help us win. Yes, look at Milan, look at Maldini with seven finals. Okay, it is the first time for us and we want to play seven more finals as well. This is our first one, and we want to win it very badly.
"This is the mentality we need for the final, we cannot think of what happens if we lose. We are there, it may be a surprise for a lot of people but we intend to only do our job right and not to think about anything else."
