Lucas puts Brazilian meeting on hold
As many as five Brazilians could be on the pitch at one time when Liverpool welcome Chelsea to Anfield on Sunday, but Lucas Leiva has revealed that any reunion can only take place when the 90 minutes are completed.
Philippe Coutinho's arrival in January doubled the number of samba stars within the Red ranks, while the visitors this weekend can boast three - David Luiz, Oscar and Ramires.
Lucas admitted he is looking forward to the opportunity of meeting up with his international teammates, but friendship will count for nothing when the action begins according to the midfielder.
"Ramires and David Luiz have been here in England for a while, doing really well and they won the Champions League with Chelsea," the 26-year-old told Liverpoolfc.com.
"Oscar has made a really good impact for his first year in England. I'm really looking forward to meeting with them - I've spoken to them already a few times and I'm very close to them.
"It will be nice to meet with them and hopefully after the game we can talk a bit more. But, of course, in the game I will try to do everything I can to help Liverpool."
In the opposition dugout will be the man who brought Lucas to Merseyside in 2007 - Rafa Benitez. And the Brazilian explained similar sentiments for the Chelsea manager.
"It will be a strange feeling for me - everyone knows how important Rafa was for me since my first day here," he added.
"He was one of the few that gave me a chance and had the trust to put me on the pitch. He gave me the chance to show that I was capable of playing for Liverpool.
"I'm really looking forward to meeting him again, it has been a long time without seeing him. It will be a nice game to play and hopefully in the game I will now try to beat him. For his future, I always wish him the very best."
Despite successive goalless draws with West Ham and Reading, the Reds retain hopes of securing European qualification from their five remaining games in 2012-13.
Lucas accepted that task will prove difficult but reflected on a recent victory over another London side as source for inspiration.
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He said: "We know we will probably have to win all of the games remaining, and still not be sure that we have qualified. We'll just have to try to get as many points as we can and see what's going to happen.
"It doesn't seem an easy job for us but we have to keep believing and, at the end of the season, see if we can get any reward.
"The one game we can really look at is Spurs. It was a really difficult game but the home factor was important for us.
"We need to make sure we approach the game well - we know it's a big game. It's going to be a good game to play and hopefully with our crowd we'll have a good win.
"We had enough chances to score in the last game but unfortunately the 'keeper had a fantastic day and didn't allow us to score. Maybe we need to be a bit calmer in front of goal.
"The last two games have not been good in terms of goals but we created chances. Hopefully we will create and score in the next game. If we score goals, the chance to win is higher."