Real Madrid vs Liverpool ( 25 Feb 2009)

Champions League matches always calls for higher quality of football from all clubs to stay alive in the competition. Teams must show absolute resilience and pure character to win or manage a draw in their matches because in football the inevitable is always possible.

Wednesday night's game took us to Santiago Bernabe'u, Real Madrid's home ground where they faced Liverpool. Both the Spanish side and the English side were 7 points behind the league leaders in their respective groups, but Real Madrid were in top form of late which added onto their advantage of playing at home to win the game. But Liverpool have done exceptionally well especially in the Champions League matches. The match started with the usual procedure of the captains exchanging their respective club's flags and the photo session. 'The Reds' were led by their local boy Carragher as captain courageous Steve Gee was not yet 100% fit to start and Rafa did not want to risk playing Steve Gee and getting him injured because Liverpool have to face their bitter rivals ManU on 14 march. Liverpool started with lone striker Torres and five midfielders. Real Madrid's defender, Pepe had vouched before the game to mark Torres continuously and to physically tussle him out. The fun part was the match was played in Spain against a Spanish team , the English team having more Spanish players than Real Madrid ( which had nearly 7 Dutch players in their team). The first half went quite well, both the teams showing the urge to win the ball from one another and keeping possession. Torres had a wonderful opportunity of taking Liverpool in front but was denied by Cassilas. The Liverpool defence was strong enough to prevent Raul from taking any advantage and slotting the ball into the net. Higuine and Robben threatened Liverpool a couple of times, Higuine striking the side netting and Robben hitting the ball just over the cross bar. Both teams went into the half time with the score 0-0.

The second half was getting hotter by each minute, Liverpool showing the urge to get the crucial away goal. Let me explain why the away goal matters so much. if a certain team scores a 2-1 victory over another team on foreign soil but lose with them 0-1 on home soil, the team which scored away goals marches on to the next round because they showed more quality by beating the opponent away from home, with not much of fan support. Now coming back to the match, Real Madrid's Left back Heinze gave a free kick to liverpool about 32 m from goal in the 82nd minute. Fabio Aurelio the left footer curled the ball into the 6 yard box where Israeli midfielder and playmaker Benayoun headed the ball into the net and taking Liverpool ahead. Surprisingly the Spanish team was not marking him, Higuine who was in front of Benayoun did not budge to clear the ball, giving Benayoun a free unmarked header. The whole stadium was stunned when Liverpool scored ( barring the travelling English fans) and a deadly silence fell over for a couple of minutes. Madrid tried hard getting back in the game but with Liverpool's strong defence and sheer determination to win the game they held Madrid from scoring any.

It was a wondeful night for the Scousers and Liverpool go into the second leg with greater confidence,Steve Gee will be joining the side to play Madrid at Anfield. If Liverpool make it to the next round it will be totally 14 times they would have reached this stage in this competition and 4 times out of 5 under Rafa. CHEERS LIVERPOOL!!!

Liverpool - Chelsea (1 Feb 2009)

The race for the title is still on, with the top three teams constantly swapping places in the Barclay's Premier League. Unlike the last season where ManU clearly took the lead at the top of the table after a poor show by the 'Gunners' in the second half of the season, this season holds more promise for any of the five clubs to win the title. Aston Villa being the fifth team other than the Big Four in the title race.

Liverpool's new year didn't not kick off well as they drew all their games in January, slipping vital 8 points and giving rivals ManU a clear chance to go for the hat rick . Sunday's match against Chelsea was crucial for both the Reds and the Blues because they along with Aston Villa were locked at 48 points in the table and only a win for either team would them on heels of Manchester United. Liverpool did not have their expensive buy Robbie Keane even on their bench after he not being able to prove himself for the Reds.Chelsea had their start striker Drogba on the bench, increasing the speculation that things were indeed cross between himself and Scolari. The first half of the match was evenly poised, both teams having a good share of the ball possession. But Petr Cech looked the busier of the two goal keepers. Liverpool had a couple of chances though not juicy ones but some superb defending from Terry and Alex prevented the ball being at the back of the net. The first half saw two bookings with Mascherano and Ashley Cole both receiving yellow cards for the harsh tackles they made. Both teams went into half time with the score 0-0.

The second half had lots instore for the fans, filled with drama and action. Liverpool's Xabi Alonso was booked in the 46th minute for his challenge. More drama unfolded after the hour mark had crossed. Lampard was shown a straight red for a challenge mistaken to be a harsh one by referee Mike Raily. lampard had clearly got to the ball first and Alonso had tripped over Lampard's raised legs which was mistaken by the referee. lampard was in absolute shock over this decision,indeed a poor one by the referee. In crucial games like this a bad decision like this could put you in the back seat even when you are playing well. The game continued with Chelsea's 10 man team showing good resilience, vying to snatch off a win or at least a point at Anfield. Captain Courageous ( Steve Gee) was booked for a dive inside the penalty box in the 70th minute of the game. The match seemed heading for a draw until Torres stepped up to score Liverpool's first goal at home, ending his drought at Anfield this season with style. He doubled Liverpool's lead the very next minute when a mistake by Ashley Cole proved costly and Torres was given the ball to slot in the net by playmaker Yossi Benayoun. Liverpool now are at 51 points, 2 points behind the league leaders for the moment ManU.

Go Liverpool, You can win the TITLE !