When the draw was made for the Champions League last-16 round, Liverpool's supporters could have been forgiven for thinking they had hit the jackpot. Real Madrid were in the early days of new management, hit by crisis, and trailed Barcelona by 12 points in La Liga.
Two months and nine successive wins later, the situation has changed entirely. The league title race is alive again after Madrid clawed back five points in just two weeks, scoring 10 goals in the process.
Sir Alex Ferguson may claim that Madrid have not got a hope of winning the Champions League, but a state of euphoria has broken out at the Bernabéu, the president Vicente Boluda going so far as to declare that his side will win 3-0 on Wednesday night. Even Juande Ramos looks quietly confident – even if, in classic Ramos style, the emphasis is very much on the quiet.
His players will not, he insists, let success go to their heads. Nor will the occasion go to his. And as for Ferguson, Ramos simply smiled: "I am not interested in responding to him. I'm not a coach who seeks out controversy."
Ramos also attempted to play down the sense of elation at their recent form. "I don't think there is euphoria – there is optimism," he said. "We are happy with the way things are going. That gives us security and confidence to go into this game. There will be fans that are euphoric but within the dressing room the euphoria is under control. We know that it will be hard and that we will have to work as much as we can to get through but we are confident.
"I'm looking forward to it, but I am not nervous. I am calm and relaxed and am trying to make sure that the players are too. They are all eager to play.
"It's going to be very close – we are talking about two teams that are at a very similar level. I think that it's going to be decided by the small details, right at the end. There are no easy games, and even less so against a historic team like Liverpool."
Ramos also called on the fans to carry Madrid in the first leg at the Bernabéu and insisted that he has nothing to prove to Spurs fans following his sacking after eight games of the season at White Hart Lane. Nor, he insists, is he playing for a new contract with the club.
"The Bernabéu needn't envy Anfield. We need the fans to help us get the game on track. We need them when it's 0–0 and difficult, not when we are 3–0 up. They have a role to play and we know they will be there for us.
"The only thing I am interested in is getting through the tie, it's been a while since Madrid got beyond the last 16. I am not interested in what winning this game means for my future but because it is important for the club. I don't have to prove anything [to English fans]. I have been coaching for a long time and people know what I have achieved."
Ramos added that he "did not have a clue" whether or not Steven Gerrard would play. Nor was he concerned. "It is the unit that stands out with Liverpool, not one player. The only thing I know for sure is that Liverpool will play with 11 players. If Gerrard plays, it's because he's ready. I wouldn't play an injured player and I imagine that Rafa wouldn't either."
