Champions League Liveblog: Real Madrid v Liverpool!
By: Steve | February 25th, 2009HALA MADRID! What’s up, folks? It’s been a while since I’ve written one of these for a Champions League match, and I’m totally psyched about it. I’m even skipping my own football match to do this, but it’s ok, the lads have enough guys to cover my absence (not that I’m particularly good at all anyway). This is gonna be AWESOME!
The prodigal son, Rafa Benitez, returns to his spiritual home with a Liverpool team that has been faltering recently in Premier League play, but remains dangerous in the Champions League as the past few years have shown us. He brings with him a gaggle of Spanish internationals, including Fernando Torres, Xabi Alonso and Pepe Reina.
Real Madrid comes into the match in sterling form, unbeaten in winning 9 straight matches, conceding only 2 goals in that span. Coach Juande Ramos has the boys believing again, and confidence is sky-high (maybe too high?). It’s a clash of colossal titans, a battle of European giants, with the teams totalling 14 European Cups between them.
Tonight’s match is either on Sky Sports 2 or SS Xtra (the website and TV said different things). Coverage starts at 19h30 GMT, with kickoff probably 15 minutes later. Check out Corey’s excellent preview of the match to get up to speed. It’s so good, I won’t go into any more detail myself.
Just come back in 6 hours, comment away and enjoy the match!
PREMATCH: Ok, let’s get this going! Good to see you, Cesar and Donovan, and all the other Madridista commenters here!
PREMATCH: The match is on Sky Sports 2, I’m watching it right now! Chelsea v Juve is on SS Xtra.
PREMATCH: Steven Gerrard is confirmed OUT not starting for this match. If we don’t take advantage of this, we don’t deserve the tie.
PREMATCH: I’m so excited for this match, i can’t stand it!
PREMATCH: So what about last night’s matches? Barca are lucky to escape with a draw, and WTF is up with Arsenal? So wasteful. Bendtner is just shite.
PREMATCH: Teams are now coming out of the tunnel onto the pitch. No Stevie G.
PREMATCH: Carragher is captain, Agger is in the squad.
PREMATCH: Marcelo is starting! It’s Casillas, Ramos, Cannavaro, Pepe, Heinze, Lass, Gago, Marcelo, Robben, Raul, Higuain. 2 wingers, no real central attacking midfielder. Weird.
PREMATCH: Also interesting… Lass is number 39, instead of 6. I guess they can’t reuse the number after Mahamadou was registered in earlier rounds?
PREMATCH: my bad, Agger is not in. There’s a tall bald white dude who looks like him then. hahaha.
1min: And we’re off! Liverpool gets the ball first.
2min: It’s Arbeloa and Aurelio at fullback. Carragher pairs up with Skrtel in the middle of the defense.
2min: Real definitely with attacking intent in the first few minutes… Lass getting pretty far forward there on the right.
4min: Oh man! The ball just wouldn’t settle for Higuain to take a shot, while he got the throw-in in the box.
5min: Oh! Robben puts through Raul for an attempt, but it’s right at Reina.
7min: Strong possession game by Real so far, but Liverpool is marking well. Robben hasn’t had any space to run into.
8min: What was that? Carragher just booted the ball away for no reason.
9min: Wow, Raul is dropping deep to provide service to the wings, in true trequartista fashion.
12min: Real gets a free kick, about 30 yards from goal, after a foul on Gago…
12min: Put out by Xabi Alonso, corner given.
13min: Eh, how weird was that? Two consecutive attempts on a high bouncing ball after the corner, both of them bicycle-kick style. And both by guys who shouldn’t be attempting them – Lass and Pepe.
15min: Hmmm, is it just me or does Real look a little panicky in attack? They get the ball but they’re standing still and looking for the outlet pass to relieve the pressure defense practiced by Liverpool.
16min: Ooh, decent effort by Marcelo, but saved by Reina.
17min: A little too much dribbling by Robben gets him a decent interception by Mascherano. Let go of the ball, son!
18min: Some good play by Higuain there, keeping possession while being hounded by 3 defenders. They couldn’t make something of it though, Robben unable to settle the pass.
19min: Great tackle by Pepe on Torres, who may have been offside anyways.
20min: Oh! Casillas with a great save on Torres, after the Spanish international striker gets behind the Real defense on a long clearance. Pepe really shouldn’t have tried to play the offside trap.
22min: Great effort by Marcelo to get to the long pass and keep it in. Earns a corner for his efforts…
22min: Which Heinze promptly wastes by skying a ball away.
23min: Bad news for Liverpool… Torres is pulling up a little lame and goes off the pitch for treatment.
23min: What is going on with Pepe and Cannavaro? Pure chaos back there at the moment.
25min: Torres is still getting his ankle looked at… oh, and now he’s back on.
26min: Man, Mascherano is ALL OVER Robben, just suffocating him with his marking.
27min: Lass needs to chill out with his tackling. He bounces up faster than almost anyone, but he cannot get booked.
29min: With that last comment, I meant that Lass is too valuable to lose to bookings.
29min: Nice cross in by Ramos, cleared for a corner.
30min: OH!!! Higuain is offside and the goal is disallowed after Ramos heads the corner at Pepe Reina and the rebound comes straight to the Argentine striker. SO CLOSE!
31min: I have to say, I think Real has looked the more dangerous side so far…
32min: Liverpool with a free kick, at least 40 yards out…
33min: Ooh, cleared by Pepe. In the box, after a little bit of confusion in the early going, Real’s back four seem to have settled down.
34min: Liverpool going forward much better now… Benayoun had a decent chance there, but shot wide. Real need to clear the ball better, but what else is new…?
36min: Marcelo attempts a shot after a bit of fancy footwork to create some space from his marker, but it goes wide of the goal. It was also from about 22 yards out, so i don’t think Reina was troubled.
38min: Liverpool getting chances has as much to do with some lackadaisical defending by Real as their own intent and ability.
39min: Oh! Again, another long range attempt, this time by Robben after waltzing into the middle, but it’s also wide of the target.
40min: Another Robben shot off target. Come on, man!
41min: Ugh, Heinze loses possession after some decent buildup by Gago.
41min: Meh, yet another long range attempt outside the box, this one from Higuain. Surely he had some time and space to move forward for a better shot?!?
43min: Nice movement by Robben, getting into the box for Ramos to play a ball through…
44min: OH! A deflection on a shot puts the ball straight to Reina. That coulda been a good chance.
44min: Madrid need to tighten up at the back.
45min: Ooh, Xabi Alonso tries one of his patented defensive-half strikes, but Casillas parries over the bar for a corner.
45min: Haha, the ref calls the half, and Liverpool can’t take the corner. Jokes.
HALFTIME: Well, what do you guys think? I think both teams could improve.
HALFTIME: Great comments guys… definitely agree. We’re lacking a little initiative when attacking and I attribute that directly to not having a CAM. Raul works hard, but that’s not his position. I think we’ll see Guti or Sneijder on quite early in the second half if things don’t spark up.
46min: As predicted by several commenters, Guti comes on for Marcelo.
46min: No subs for Liverpool, so Torres stays on.
47min: Hopefully we’ve got good Guti tonight.
47min: Yellow card on Cannavaro for impeding Kuyt. Free kick is a good ways out.
48min: And Alonso’s kick goes out, no danger.
50min: WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?!? Horrid Madrid defending, Casillas included. That was a weak palm away on the cross, and there’s acres of space for Liverpool.
51min: Liverpool have come out ready to play. Madrid haven’t.
52min: Come on! WTF? Gago gives away possession with a pass to no one in particular.
53min: Robben weaves his way through 3 Liverpool defenders up the right wing, but hits the side netting.
53min: Reina easily grabs a shot, i think it was from Guti…
54min: At this rate, if Liverpool bring on Gerrard, we’re done. Any semblance of a fluid attack has disappeared at half-time.
55min: Yellow card on Fernando Torres for a foul on Lass. Pretty obvious actually.
56min: Arbeloa getting some treatment off the pitch… and is now back on.
57min: Well, it’s still scoreless, so it’s tense, but there is zero beauty in this match.
58min: Foul on Robben up the right wing… free kick gets headed out for a Liverpool throw-in.
59min: Wow, great attack by Liverpool, if a bit wasteful. Benayoun probably should’ve taken the shot himself, but Pepe got a foot in and intercepted the ball. Phew!
59min: Ugh, these Sky commentators are such homers. They just said that last Torres offside call was “a fraction off”. What? He was easily 2-3 feet offside!
60min: Wow, Liverpool has loads of space. Where is the Madrid midfield?
60min: Bacon saved by Lass, with a good clearance.
62min: Looks like Torres is coming off… for Ryan Babel.
63min: Ugly, ugly match. Headed passes, bouncing balls…
63min: Higuain dribbles into the box (at least it wasn’t a shot outside the area) against 2 defenders, but hits side netting.
65min: Wow, Pepe just outran and outcornered Babel to the ball. Nice.
65min: Ooh, just a touch too heavy on Raul’s pass for Robben. Goal kick.
66min: Wow, that looked massively offside…
66min: Finally some good movement and passing by Madrid… good cross by Ramos but it’s intercepted.
67min: Mascherano booked for hacking down Gago.
68min: Wow, i just noticed that horrible clearance by Reina… went straight to Lass.
69min: AHHH! Ugly cross by Ramos. Good buildup by Gago and Robben, but the rightback was wasteful. He even took a couple steps back to set himself for the cross!
71min: GREAT SHOT BY ROBBEN! And a great save by Reina, wow. That was the first really good counterattack that Real has had all match. Fingertip save on a swerving shot.
72min: Heinze really does look quite awkward when he clears the ball with an emergency hoof.
74min: Ooh, almost a chance there for Higuain, who can’t get around Carragher.
74min: Good take by Reina in the air, after a floaty cross from the left. 3 white shirts in the area.
75min: Guti just doesn’t look like he’s at match speed. He took SO long to decide where to go with the ball that it was pinched off him. Brutal.
76min: WHAT WAS THAT?!? Did Ramos really mean to take a shot there? That was putrid.
78min: Oh! Just a heavy touch from Robben loses possession. He had acres of space otherwise… Damn it.
79min: PASS THE DAMN BALL! Higuain dribbles into 4 defenders with a WIDE-OPEN Robben out on the left. Idiot.
80min: Madrid earn a corner after Skrtel clears a cross…
80min: And the ball bounces around countless header attempts and clearance attempts. Ugly. No other word for it.
82min: Heinze = bollocks defender. Absolutely manhandles Kuyt and then thinks he did nothing wrong when it’s whistled.
82min: GOAL! Liverpool scores! Benayoun gets a free header on the free kick from Aurelio. Who is marking him?!? DAMN IT. Real Madrid 0-1 Liverpool.
83min: Riera booked for a handball, meaning he’s out of the second leg. Free kick for Madrid…
84min: Weak free kick by Gago. No height on it at all. Raul had to dive just to get a head on it and he was the nearest guy.
85min: What the hell is that shit from Ramos? He’s had a pretty poor match, as far as I’m concerned. At least offensively.
86min: Yellow card on Gago for a pretty bad challenge on Riera.
87min: Gerrard’s coming on. What’s the point?
88min: Coming on for Riera.
88min: Liverpool really doing well to get a foot in on every pass attempt, especially on Guti.
90min: What is going on…? Weak pass that goes out of bounds after some decent passing around the right wing by Robben and Ramos.
90+1min: 3 minutes of extra time.
90+2min: Kuyt comes off for Lucas.
90+2min: Where’s the fight? It’s been pure panic attacking for the last 10 minutes.
90+3min: And we’re done.
POSTMATCH: Well, that was awful.
POSTMATCH: Conceding at home, in the first leg, isn’t the end of the world. Not scoring at home in the same match is pretty bad.
POSTMATCH: Goat is easily Heinze. That was just reckless play. If that didn’t underline how much we need a better leftback, I don’t know what will.
POSTMATCH: I’m so upset, I can’t even think properly.
POSTMATCH: I may come back to do player ratings, but at the moment, we have put ourselves behind the 8 ball. Just a terrible showing in such an important match.
POSTMATCH: Some may attribute it to Liverpool’s defense, and to be sure, it was probably better than anything Real have seen this year so far, but really, that was a piss-poor excuse of an attack.
POSTMATCH: There was no flow to the match, and aside from Robben’s shot on the counter, did Madrid really pose much danger to Reina? I think not.
POSTMATCH: We have put ourselves in a hole, and we now have to go to Anfield and win at least 2-1 to go through to the next stage.
POSTMATCH: Awful. Just awful.
POSTMATCH: And just another reminder (following on from Corey)… yes we lost, but don’t respond to any baiting or trolling from guys like Nothing or CBP. They’re just a bunch of shit disturbers.
POSTMATCH: Ok, I’m out. Gonna go drink away the stench of this match.
Category: 
Subscribe
|
Print
|
Share
      |
Comments
-
Boluda must be feeling pretty stupid now after he predicted that we were gonna beat the scouse 3 nil
Our players just looked lost out there the midfield was non existant the distance between them and the strikers was the size of el phenomeno’s stomach we really got a lot to work on that is if they really wanna go through
Posted from
United States
-
I gotta admit. Benitez is not my favorite coach in the world, me being an irrational idealistic cule who cringes at the though of playing any less than 3 men up front and whose team usually loses to teams like his but DAMN, that was good tactics. The key was IMO Mascherano-Alonso, who, I’ve said before, are the best double pivot tandem in world club football. Lass and Gago are very good but none of the two have the ability to keep possession and control the tempo of a game like Alonso can. That’s what RM still needs, a maestro a la Alonso or Xavi. Guti may be that guy but we know that his picture is next to both mercurial and inconsistent in the dictionary and he wasn’t in form just yet. Still, Mascherano is the best defensive mid in the world at this point (again, IMO) and a guy that has the ability to almost single handedly wreck a midfield into a bloody mess, like RM’s was today despite him not being a man mountain a la Viera or Toure. He’s Gago’s mentor in the NT and who knows if that got him a bit of an upper hand (although conversely Gago should also know him well). Still, they formed instant double teams with whatever FB or CB was at hand whenever a RM player got the ball near the Lverpool area. They seemed to be everywhere and their discipline was awesome.
I’m not one for tactical football but us Spanish football fans have to realize that there are other ways to dominate a midfield than tick-tack passing, and that’s what Liverpool did today in the absence of Gerrard. Still, 1-0 isn’t THAT bad but putting up 2 goals at the Kop without conceding is mighty damn hard. Good luck to you.
Posted from
United States -
Why didn’t VDV and Sneijder play? Because they aren’t Dynamic enough or fast enough for this game, they’ll take many shots out side the area that wont help us at all. we struggled to get into the box, it was a wise decision to go with Marcelo from the start.
Posted from
United States -
It was good tactics sure, but besides Real playing like absolute shit, Liverpool did very little to deserve an away goal. They mostly hoofed the ball clear of their area and scored on a set piece. That is what is most frustrating. If we played poorly and drew 0-0 then fine, it should have been on us, but I feel like Benitez offers nothing more then a more modern version of negative football, much like Mourinho does too. Tactically its a master class one would say, but aesthetically its awful to watch, and it makes some of his more talented players look like a bunch of pub player goons. Hopefully Real AND Liverpool will actually play a proper game at Anfield, because I can handle being beaten, I cant handle Real beating themselves and Liverpool clamming up and getting something completely off the run of play.
Posted from
United States -
I’m with Corey on this one. It should have been 0-0. Benitez always does well in Europe precisely because he plays not to lose. Argh. Good thing I didn’t gouge my eyeballs out watching Man U and Inter, because Liverpool always makes me want to, as well.
But I think they can be had at Anfield. They’re going to park the bus, which gives opportunities to your lads for possession, and with possession comes goals.
Oh, you were right about us escaping Lyon with an extremely lucky 1-1 draw. As I noted in the match report, could have easily been 3-1. We’re tired right now, on the down side of the see-saw that your lads were on early in the season. The Liga is going to be close. Good luck.
Posted from
United States -
It certainly ain’t pretty, I’ll give you that. You’re all dead-on about the very real threat of notching at least one at Anfield. Liverpool have looked more than vulnerable at home this year. Best case scenario–I’m hoping for a repeat of what unfolded against Arsenal in the quarters last year–early goals that force action…obviously though I want the result more than I want something pretty. Here’s hoping for something above a flatline next match.
Posted from
United States -
hard luck guys. i am a cule from the barca offside page but i was rooting for you guys. i would rather have spanish teams go through especially over the despicable liverpool and besides i am fantasisiing about a barca-RM CL final
Posted from
United States -
Corey, it might have not been pretty, but i think both teams are responsible for that. Liverpool came into the away match without Gerrard and it was pretty much expected that they wouldn’t be going all out.
If one team had played solely for a 0-0 spending the ninety minutes only defending (a certain Euro08 game comes to mind), you could call that negative football. But in the end, they actually had more and better chances than you. If your guys had played a little better, maybe it wouldn’t have seemed so negative.
Posted from
United States -
And before a row erupts, let me clarify that by that last statement, i just meant your team just didn’t probe them enough to find out if you can open up the game. They were mostly comfortable in defense.
Posted from
United States -
very dissapointing.
What was really apparent is the level of fear the team showed. I assume the pressure of doing well in the Champions League really hit them.
Have to give credit to Liverpool – they really killed our attacks.
What’s also troubling is that alot of people judge teams by their champoions league performances – we haven’t had a good one for a while now.Posted from
United States -
we are missing ruben de la red.how i wish we had him right now ???he had been showing promise.its sad.finally a cantera product comes along who looks likely to make the cut for us and then he is struck by misfortune.
get well soon,ruben.
Posted from
United States -
I said both teams played poorly, but while Madrid is at home they never play for a 0-0 draw. Liverpool could very well play for a 0-0 draw yet again at Anfield, it is how shameless Benitez is with his tactics. One team can play negative football, which in turn means the other team is sort of stuck with alot of possession but not much to do with it. Liverpool defended very deep, hoofed balls up field, and played with a lone striker that got support four times by my count on counter attacks. The fact that Xabi Alonso rarely ventured out of his own half leads me to believe they were the worse team. We played poorly, thats for sure, but I would attribute alot of that to Liverpool’s tactics. Juande must now reconsider the way he approaches these types of games, because he failed miserably to do anything with the Benitez Maginot Line.
Posted from
United States -
This kind of game is why I prefer even the EE to win in champions league. Of sucks to have a team play to win and another play not to loose or to loose by the most minimal of margins. Madrd tried to win this game by were utterly incapable and benitez’s boring tatics are shameful ( effective but shameful). But Juande did get a taste of his own medicine.the game reminded me of a recent clasico. It sucka to have a big team play like a small one. Well that’s beside the point.
Cabezas en alto muchachos, el 0-2 en Anfield no we imposible, improbable, pero no imposible.
Visça el Barça.
Posted from
United States -
ok, first off liverpool deserved a draw and not a win.
But what really irritates me is the 2 comments before mine. Calling benitez’s tactics boring is absolutely correct, but calling them shameful is a sign of lunacy. U guys have to understand that his job is to win and not to entertain the neutral fans. If that is what it takes to win, then dam right that is how he is going to play. If we had played open football, we probably would not have won this game. And he knows that. So why would he choose dangerous tactics? To make the game entertaining?
I applaud him, there is nothing to be ashamed of, to us winning is much more important than playing entertaining football.
So u can feel frustrated all u want by his “negative” tactics, but to call it shameful is truly obsurd.
Posted from
United States -
CBP, first of all congratulations, second I’m not even an EE fan so I hope that you guys don’t mind my comments. I will always try to be respectfull. So CBP I hope I am not a lunatic for liking positive attractive football. Here lies our difference, to me there is much more than a win (except with Madrid) if we win but it was an awfull win I’m not happy. Same seems to be true for most Madrid fans. What is shameful to me is a big club playing like a small club, playing to tie or just not to loose. It’s cowardly, I say. But if one looks at it from a mere results point of view, as it seems that you do, than it’s brilliant. So yes the game was brilliant from that point of view. Specially if one remembers that this game is played in 180 min. From example re Barça v Lyon game. Am I happy? NO! Am I glad we got positive result yes. But I am not happy with the performance. I’m only happy when we win and win comfortably with good positive football. Anything short of that is unacceptable. To you,it seems that a win no matter how negative the play was, is fine.
Now Liverpool had some really good performances in regard to Mascherano and Xabi.
So again congratulations. And if you do win, I hope we get you next. If we win;-)
Posted from
United States -
Hey, we all (Liverpool fans aside) agree on one thing. One of the big reasons this last Euro Cup was so exciting was that we saw a reverse in trends. For once, negative play – defensive, 10 men behind the ball football – got clobbered. The teams that dominated – Spain, Netherlands, Russia – were playing attacking, open football, unlike the Champion’s League before it, where defensive football took the prize. (Think Manchester United not bothering to achieve anything more than a quick Scholes crack off of a fluke pass to make it to the finals, and a final that you could fall asleep to. Even in the UEFA cup, one of the two teams in the final, thankfully the loser, got where they were only after doing nothing but defending goal for 220 minutes.) To see teams like Greece get clobbered for trying to do nothing but defend, teams like England not even make it to the main event, and teams like Italy finally punished for their negative play: it was awesome. Again: Netherlands, Spain, Russia. Germany won when they brought their attacking game. Lost in the final when they tried to park the bus. Just awesome.
So now to watch Liverpool win by trying not to lose, to watch Man Utd and Inter decide better than to play the game, it signifies that things might be back to business as usual. What makes us all worried, as fans of the game, is that the tournament might once again be only enjoyable for the victors, and the neutral observers will be better off just not bothering.
It might not be a bad idea to play catanaccio, and it can result in victory. But it’s disappointing for all of us who enjoy to WATCH FOOTBALL to see it prevail. Because it’s boring, cynical and ugly. On principle, if you’re a fan of any team other than Liverpool, even if you DESPISE Real Madrid, you want to see Liverpool lose that game.
Posted from
United States -
And can I say one more thing? With players like Xabi Alonso, Albert Riera, Ryan Babel, Fernando Torres, Dirk Kuyt – why the fuck COULDN’T Liverpool try to play for a win? It’s one thing when you are clearly outmatched and don’t have the talent to succeed, but with the skill set of the players listed above? C’mon.
Posted from
United States -
John you hit the nail on the head. The Euro 08 was beautiful precisely for that reason. I hope this year Barça wins the champions league. That is alsowjat I memy by a big team playing like a small one. Liverpool has the players to play great football but they prefer tone cynical and boring.
Posted from
United States -
Paulie- It seems only English fans demand results above all else. If my team won the Champions League with a bunch of 1-0 games, I would still be pretty happy that we wont the Champions League, but I was be pissed because it was so dull and I would certainly not support those tactics. I like to think that I dont just have a blind faith to a team, but I am more of a fan of football not just as a sport, but as an art. And what the EPL and sometimes Serie A teams play like in the CL is nothing more then garbage. Spain’s triumph was the vindication of beautiful football, but it seems such a day for the Champions League is still far off. I can see Liverpool stubbornly defending their way to the final again of course, because they will come up against teams who would love the possession Liverpool yields to them only to be frustrated at every corner and hit against the run of play. Its a win, but its ugly. And unless Real plays better at Anfield, Real is more then guilty of the ugly, over cautious football as well. I would rather go down swinging.
In the words of Emiliano Zapata, it is better to die on your feet then live on your knees.
Posted from
United States -
Welcome to a Barca fan’s world then Corey. That’s exactly what happened to us the last few years. We kept trying to play beautiful offensive football even when injuries, out of form players, and personnel dictated we shouldn’t and collapsed spectacularly. You gotta take the good with the bad in the real world application of ticki-taka and the good is not always there. Its cost before and will cost us again be it this year or in the future.
I’m gonna say, I view football the same way but after being numbed by these types of tactics over the last few years, I’ve accepted them as simply something else to overcome. It really is no excuse. Spain had to get through the Italian NT, the original master of catenaccio, and they still gritted their teeth and got through alive. Its another test in the road to greatness I guess. That’s what makes us La Liga and Spanish NT fans, an idealistic lot that lately wins less than their European counterparts we are irrationally idealistic and demanding in our pursuit of the ART of football. Compare that with somebody who values results like the Brits apparently do. I’m proud of being an idealistic fool but at the same time am forced to recognize that there are other viable ways to win a game or a championship than beautiful flowing football. Just because they didn’t keep possession or attack as much doesn’t necessarily mean they played badly if defending and keeping a clean sheet was their intention all along.
BTW I don’t want to seem like calling out anybody in particular because I’m not but remember when Juande played similar tactics against Barca at the Camp Nou and a lot of Madridistas (generally, I’m NOT pointing out somebody on this board) hailed it as a brilliant display of tactics that almost paid off and shrugged off the cules’ complaint of a big team shamefully playing like a little team? Well, the foot is on the other foot now. That kinda gives you a perspective into a Liverpool fan’s view. It pisses all of us off but being angry won’t help us. RM will have a tough time scoring at the Kop unless significant adjustments are made. The key to playing Liverpool is to make them HAVE to be offensive (i.e. scoring first) because that’s where they suck and open themselves up to the counter. They have so many draws at home to smaller teams because THEY park the bus and although Liverpool can park a mean bus, they have a harder time attacking another bus. That alternative is gone. You HAVE to score twice by kicking, clawing, and struggling and THEN force them out. I do wish all the La Liga teams luck.
Posted from
United States -
Liverpool do play very negative football but we knew that going to this game so ….
I honestly don’t care how they play I just want us to go through and to do so by playing well as it has been case ( save the past 3 or so years ) throughout our entire history
All is not lost we can qualify with a 1 – 2 winAs hector pointed if we score on them early ( god please let us do so I promise ill start praying everyday ) then its on they’ll be more adventurous and that’s when we kill them
HAAAAAAALA MADRID!!!
Posted from
United States -
I just want to be clear on one thing: I didn’t say Liverpool played badly, or even that they didn’t deserve to win. Their tactics were legitimate and their win is irrefutable. I just wanted to emphasize is that it’s the principle of sacrificing any attempt to meet the opposition half way, resigning your entire game plan to defense with an occasional half-hearted counter attack, that I really hate to see succeed.
And Hector – to be fair, when we played Barcelona we were without at least half of our key players (Robben, Pepe, Heinze, De la Red, van Nistelrooy, Marcelo and Diarra), and our coach had been with us for less than a week. In that scenario, and going up against the most powerful team in the league (perhaps even the continent at that moment) you can understand why Madrid felt forced to play the defensive football they did. But as tomatutomate and myself pointed out, Liverpool was in no such dire situation. Yes, Steven Gerrard wasn’t fully fit, and Torres ended up getting injured an hour into the match, but the Reds still had loads of talent at their disposal, and still opted for a very cynical game of football.
Posted from
United States -
A win is a win, congratulations to the Livepool fans, but there’s still 90 more min to be played, so enjoy it until we meet again at Anfield…
One thing we’re missing with Sneijder’s lack of form, and Ruben’s heart condition (get well lad!!!) is a quality outside shot from outside the box, that could’ve beenn the diference yesterday, but instead, our players barely tried it yesterday…
Great discussion about results +ugly play vs. beautiful game + results; I for one would rather see a thrilling, back and forth 0-0, with lots of chances, than a meager 1-0 victory where the winning team was lucky enough to get a break; but when you’re playing elimination rounds, I don’t care as long as my team goes through…, sometimes this fixtures show what a team is made of, and if Real is really a contender for the title, we’ll get trough…, I compare this bout against Liverpool with Spain’s match against Italy at the Euros, where the Spaniards exorcised decades of frustration, against the team that always defeated them, so I’m hopeful Liverpool is our Italy (because they play the same, tactical, boring game), and Real is the Spanish team, trying to win and play well
Anyways, now on to Espanyol, take care everybody
Posted from
United States -
To be fair Cesar to be the Spanish NT you need more than 2 NT members. You need Iniesta and Xavi. Jk bro. Wish you the best in the next leg aka a win. And hope you loose againts Espanyol.
Posted from
United States -
The reason I like Madrid is they don’t play boring football (Liverpool) but don’t go down in flames in persuit of attractive football(Barcelona). They got where they are by instilling the grit mindset into their players, their hard working never say die attitude no matter what the odds are. Madrid has scored many goals in injury time because they don’t know what defeat is. Although Liverpool are in a comfortable position right now and have a major advantage, I will never count Madrid out. They will scratch until the final second which I admire greatly, maybe even more than their wins. I’ll still have respect if they go down fighting.
Posted from
United States
Read the rest of the comments
Comments are closed
Home 
