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Liverpool dumps Barcelona out of Champions League

March 7th 2007 05:01

RESULTS:

Liverpool 0-1 Barcelona (Agg:2-2 Liverpool goes through on away goals rule)
Chelsea 2-1 Porto (Agg:3-2)
Lyon 0-2 Roma (Agg:0-2)
Valencia 0-0 Inter (Agg:2-2 Valencia progresses on the away goals rule)

SUMMARY:

The Mighty Reds are through to the quarter-finals of the UEFA Champion's League after knocking out reigning European champions Barcelona at Anfield early this morning (AEST).

Liverpool proved too good for Barcelona over the two matches and the Spanish side's famed attacking quartet of Ronaldinho, Deco, Messi and E'too simply could not breakdown a resilient Liverpool defence marshalled by the brilliant Jamie Carragher.

Barcelona knew they had their work cut out for the 2nd leg when Liverpool visited the Nou camp and left with a win and two vital away goals a fortnight ago.

However, it was Liverpool who dominated for much of the game and had plenty of chances to settle the tie in the first half when both John Arn Riise and Momo Sissoko rattled the cross bar.

In a last roll of the dice for Barcelona coach Frank Rijkaard, the Dutchman sent on Gudjohnsen in place of Thuram for the last 20 minutes and the move immediately paid dividends.

With Barca now effectively playing in a 4-2-4 formation, the Liverpool defence momentarily collapsed under the onslaught and allowed substitute Gudjohnsen to score in the 75th minute.

Liverpool were pinned back in their own half defending desperately but held onto progress through to the quarter finals by virtue of the away goals rule in what Jamie Carragher hailed as one of Liverpool's greatest European results.

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Posted By: charles - Category: Champions League football, Liverpool FC news, Liverpool, Barcelona

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Mighty Reds down Barcelona

February 22nd 2007 04:33

The second batch of Champion's League first round knock-out matches took place overnight with the highly anticipated clash between the two most recent Champion's League winning teams Liverpool and Barcelona taking centre stage.

Barcelona vs Liverpool Goals

After a traumatic week for Liverpool when reports of a training ground bust-up between bad-boy Craig Bellamy and John Arne Riise made the headlines, the two players settled their differences on the pitch by scoring a goal apiece to down Barcelona 2-1 away from home.

Liverpool made a confident start but found themselves a goal down in the 14th minute when Barcelona's Portguese midfielder Deco headed in the first goal for the home side.

Shell-shocked but refusing to buckle under the sustained pressure of Barcelona's fabulous attacking game, the Reds found an equaliser through "golf-club swinging" bad-boy Craig Bellamy when the Welshman powered in a header which keeper Victor Valdes was unable to keep hold of.

Proving that he can make assists as well as score goals, Bellamy went on to play a loose ball across goal for the unmarked Riise to blast right-footed into the roof of the net in the 74th minute to give the mighty Reds a commanding lead ahead of the return fixture in a fortnight's time.

This morale boosting victory ensured that Liverpool's class of 07' became the only side to win at the Nou camp since the 1975-76 Liverpool team, which downed Barca 1-0 in the UEFA Cup semi-finals before going on to win the final.

Elsewhere, Andriy Shevchenko added to his wonderful goal scoring record in Europe by scoring Chelsea's only goal of the match in a one-all draw with Portguese side Porto.

The result, in Chelsea's favour by virtue of the away goals rule, was soured by the news of an ankle ligament injury sustained by England captain John Terry who will now be out for a few weeks.

The two other Champion's League matches also resulted in a draw: the match between Roma and Lyon remained scoreless after 90 minutes and the Inter Milan - Valencia ended at two goals a piece.

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