The 2005 Champions went into this game with a 2-1 win in the first leg over the 2006 Champions. There was no love lost between the two managers, with one calling the other a ” know it all ” before the game.
Liverpool went into the first leg of their round of 16 tie against holders Barcelona as underdogs, but yesterday night at Anfield, Rafa’s young Reds were the favourites as they had two away goals as a cushion to rest on.
John Arne Riise, who scored the winner at the Nou Camp, sent a shiver down the spines of the Barcelona faithful with two efforts in the first 10 minutes- one went just wide, and the other hit the bar. Gerrard, Alonso and Sissoko worked overtime to ensure that Barcelona’s forwards didn’t get the kind of service they would have liked. Alvaro Arbeloa followed Lionel Messi like a shadow. Barcelona had loads of possession in the first half, but they couldn’t convert their dominance in possesion into goals or even shots on goal. The visitors had Victor Valdes to thank in the 25th minute, when he pulled off a double save to deny Bellamy and Kuyt, and Carlos Puyol then hacked the ball off the line. Barcelona breathed again. Valdes had a lucky escape 5 minutes later, when for some inexplicable reason, at the edge of the box, he decided to send the ball into traffic- the ball found Momo Sissoko but the Malian international’s thunderous effort hit the bar of the unprotected goal. Sissoko also earned a yellow for a foul on Deco, which rules him out of the first leg of Liverpool’s quarter final.
Jose Reina didn’t have much to do in the first half, and he had his defenders to thank for that. Jamie Carragher was at his best on Tuesday night, pulling off some fantastic tackles to thwart the likes of Etoo, Ronaldinho and Messi.
The teams went into the lemon break goalless, and Barcelona started off the second half with more intent. The woodwork brought itself into attention once again when Ronaldinho’s shot hit it. The ineffective Etoo was substituted for the pacy Ludovic Giuly, as Barcelona searched desperately for a goal. Their second substitution, bringing on Gudjohnsen for Thuram did the trick. The Icelandic international latched on to a slick Messi pass, and rounded Reina to send the ball into the empty net. Barcelona were back in the game. Bellamy had earlier gone off for Pennant in the 67th minute, and when Riise followed in the 77th minute for Aurelio, both of Liverpool’s scorers in the first leg were off the pitch.
Steven Gerrard was Liverpool’s best attacking player in the second half, and he forced Valdes into action on several occasions. Dirk Kuyt was brought off for Peter Crouch, who nearly scored as soon as he came on, but his effort went over.
Liverpool hung on for dear life, and the match ended 1-0 to Barcelona. The Reds go into the last eight on away goals. Liverpool, the defending champions in 2006 were dumped out in the second round, and Barcelona had to suffer a similar fate yesterday night at Anfield. Liverpool fell to Benfica last time around, but Riijkard’s team were sent out by a compact side, which did not allow the attacking freedom that they craved.
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