Champions League review: Liverpool 1-0 Chelsea (Liverpool win 4-1 on penalties)

74045113.gifDear Uefa, please can you fix it for me so that Liverpool and Chelsea never play each other in Europe ever again? I don’t really want to endure any more ultra-cautious, ultra-defensive, ultra-professional football. It’s no fun.
Where was the inspiration last night, the magic touch of a Kaka or Ronaldo? Man Utd are surely the only English team in Europe who really deserve to win the Champions League this season, purely because they attempt to play flowing, instinctive football; Chelsea and Liverpool rely on perspiration more than inspiration.
Click below for more post-match thoughts, plus video highlights/post-match interviews etc… [Photo: Getty Images]


So Rafa Benitez has done it again. Liverpool’s season is suddenly transformed. As Dirk Kuyt drove home the final nail in Chelsea’s coffin, how many Liverpool fans were thinking ‘Third place in the Premiership is not good enough’? None. But Europe is a magical place for Liverpool and I can’t deny that I wanted them to dismantle the Chelsea machine.
There’s some truth in Mourinho’s complaint that only one team (Chelsea) wanted to win the game in extra-time, but when you have one of the world’s best penalty-savers on your side, can you blame Benitez for not chasing the game?
For Chelsea the quadruple is gone. Perhaps it was crazy to believe they could win four major trophies in one season – now it looks like they’ll do well to finish with more than the Carling Cup. Roman Abramovich will love that.
Uefa will be praying Milan beats Man Utd tonight – the prospect of a Liverpool v Man Utd final in a sweltering Athens must have given the city’s head of police a horrible nightmare last night.
Anyway, let’s wait and see what happens tonight in Milan. For now, here are some video highlights from last night’s match:
Liverpool fans before the match. Still makes the hairs stand up on the back of my neck. You can’t buy fans like these:


You'll never walk alone Anfield
Uploaded by NeRoMe

Match highlights, including Daniel Agger’s clever free-kick goal:

Post-match reaction:


Rafa Benitez And Jose Mourinho Post Matc
Uploaded by FootballHeaven

Posted in Chelsea, Liverpool

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2 Comments

  1. Timothy B. says:

    Only Chelsea wanted to win it in overtime? What about Kuyt’s denied goal? I’d say it way pretty evenly matched- in other words, boring.

  2. Troy Kays says:

    Sorry….but what game were you watching Sir? Liverpool scored in extra-time but the goal was ruled out by a linesman that got it wrong. Liverpool most certainly made a serious attempt to win the game in extra time. They also made a serious attempt to win the TIE in normal time, but the bar {and subsequently Cech} saved Chelski.