Atletico ace doesn't expect long road trip to hinder Liverpool

ATLETICO MADRID midfielder Jose Manuel Jurado does not believe Liverpool will show any ill-effects from their gruelling road trip to Spain when the teams clash in the first leg of their Europa League semi-final tomorrow night. Due to the volcanic ash cloud, Liverpool were forced to make an epic 24-hour trip to Madrid that will see the Reds largely travel by land.

Rafael Benitez's side started the 1,300-mile journey yesterday – the day after facing West Ham in the Barclays Premier League at Anfield – with a train to London, followed by the Eurostar to Paris, where they spent the night. They were due to take another train to Bordeaux today before making a short flight to the Spanish capital.

However, Jurado doubts the trip will cause any discernible problems for Liverpool tomorrow night. "I'm sorry that they have to travel so many kilometres to get to Madrid, although I don't think it's something that will be noticed on the pitch," Jurado said. "I think, more than the journey, they could be more tired because they played on Monday."