Liverpool 4-2 Arsenal
Abou Diaby (13)
Sami Hyypia (30)
Fernando Torres (69)
Emmanuel Adebayor (84)
Steven Gerrard ( p) (86)
Ryan Babel (90)
*- Bold indicates Liverpool player.
Even if you are a Liverpool supporter, take a moment to clap for Arsenal. Arsene Wenger’s young guns played extremely well, and were the better side over the two legs. But as it so often happens, the better team does not necessarily progress; the luckier team does. And that, precisely, is how I’d describe Liverpool getting into the last four of the Champions League.
Benitez chose to start with both Crouch and Torres, thereby forcing Gerrard to play on the left.
And for the first thirty minutes, it was all Arsenal. Liverpool did not have the time to get settled as Arsenal pounded away relentlessly in search of the crucial away goal. After all, Liverpool had drawn 1-1 at the Emirates Stadium, and they were quite capable of enforcing a shutout.