UEFA CUP/Fourth round, first leg: Just over a year since they recovered from heart surgery together at a Corsican hotel, Gerard Houllier and Auxerre's Guy Roux renew feistier acquaintances this evening with the Liverpool manager quick to put his club's current malaise into perspective.
Houllier escapes the disgruntled clamour on Merseyside to make his first return to France for a competitive match, against Auxerre at the Stade l'Abbe Deschamps, and admitted the pressure generated by his side's stuttering campaign paled into insignificance compared to that which he and his friend Roux endured during their life-threatening illnesses.
"When things like that happen to you, it puts things into context," said Houllier, who required 11 hours of open-heart surgery 16 months ago to repair an acute aortic dissection, while Roux underwent a double heart bypass in France. "Because of what happened to me, I am able to deal with the harder times better and enjoy every minute of life more.
"Pressure is part of the game and bounces from one club to another - it was Leeds, then us and now Manchester United are in the spotlight - but I can't say I am immune to criticism. If it affects my team, it affects me, but what happened to me does give me a perspective."
"Like Gerard, God came knocking for me only to kick me back down to earth to be a coach again," said Roux, who has been at Auxerre for 41 years. The 64-year-old first encountered Houllier, then managing the amateur national league Noeux-les-Mines, 25 years ago in a French Cup tie won by Roux's side 2-1.
"Gerard is like a half-brother to me and that's why it hurts me to see him criticised," says Roux.
Houllier will welcome back Steven Gerrard from domestic suspension and will hope Michael Owen scores the goal needed to equal Ian Rush's club record of 20 in continental competition. The home side will be without the much-coveted Djibril Cisse and Olivier Kapo, who scored in a 2-1 success at Arsenal in October.
AUXERRE (4-2-3-1; probable): Cool; Radet, Mexes, Boumsong, Jaures; Tainio, Faye; Mathis, Lachuer, Fadiga; Benjamin.
LIVERPOOL (4-4-2; probable): Dudek; Carragher, Henchoz, Hyypia, Riise; Diouf, Gerrard, Hamann, Murphy; Owen, Heskey.
Guardian Service
