Liverpool FC - Chelsea

[Funkmaster]

meine ehrliche gratulation an liverpool!

es tut zwar sehr weh so auszuscheiden, aber gegen chelsea 180 minuten lang kein tor zu kassieren, ist eine großartige leistung und dadurch steht man verdient im finale!

zum spiel: das tor kann wohl niemand auflösen, angeblich hat es keine fernsehkamera so eingefangen dass es erkennbar wäre. aber im prinzip egal, denn andere schiris hätten auch auf elfmeter und rot entscheiden können.

chelsea hat dann alles versucht, liverpool stand aber einfach zu gut und chelsea war zu ideenlos. vor allem gudjohnsen, tiago und cole waren totalausfälle, von kezman und robben möcht ich gar nicht schreiben, und hinten waren heute carvalho und gallas nervöse fremdkörper. am ende wars natürlich pech dass der schuss nicht reinging, aber wie gesagt steht liverpool verdient im finale. nur an der nachspielzeit hätte es nichts auszusetzen gegeben...

[basilese]

sicher war der ball im tor

zum glück ist der schweizer fußball so perfekt, dass du über den englischen lästern kannst.

dass wieder so dumme postings asl antwort kommen müssen.

schweizer fussball ist scheisse (bis auf die junioren), hier gabs sogar schon tore wo der ball deutlicher nicht drin war...

wenn ich gegen england lästere spreche ich als italiener

aber eben das lass ich jetzt, das spiel heuet war unterhaltsam auch ohne tore... genau wie das cl final juve vs milan.

[Violette Bastion]

Hochklassig war dieses Match nicht wirklich,das ist schon richtig.Aber schon allein die Leidenschaft die von den Reds an den Tag gelegt wurde war sehenswert.Schon deshalb bin ich vom englischen Fußball so begeistert.Und dann die Stimmung,da kommt Gänsehaut auf.Sehr viel länger hätte der Schiri nicht mehr nachspielen dürfen,denn Pool Trainer Benitez schien auch schon ziemlich aufgelöst.

Natürlich ist es ein Traum das Finale erreicht zu haben.

Ein gutes Wort möchte ich auch über Mourinho verlieren.Auch wenn man es nicht überbewerten soll,so ist es doch eine versöhnliche Geste seinerseits gewesen,dass er in Richtung Liverpool Fans applaudiert hat.Er kann also doch auch anders,als nur den Rüpel zu makieren. Oder hat er nur ein schlechtes Gewissen?

Auch Abramowitsch hat mit einigen Liverpool Spielern abgeklatscht .Jedenfalls haben sie die Niederlage mit Anstand ertragen.

[basilese]

Ein gutes Wort möchte ich auch über Mourinho verlieren.Auch wenn man es nicht überbewerten soll,so ist es doch eine versöhnliche Geste seinerseits gewesen,dass er in Richtung Liverpool Fans applaudiert hat.Er kann also doch auch anders,als nur den Rüpel zu makieren. Oder hat er nur ein schlechtes Gewissen?

Auch Abramowitsch hat mit einigen Liverpool Spielern abgeklatscht .Jedenfalls haben sie die Niederlage mit Anstand ertragen.

das wollte ich auch noch erwähnen! ...und ich bin jetzt wahrlich kein freund dieser 2

[Pinturicchio]

Gratulation an Liverpool, eine taktische Meisterleistung.

Es begann aber natürlich alles perfekt mit dem Treffer von Luis Garcia nach 3. Minuten, dann konnte man sich erst recht hinten reinstellen, das man so wie so gemacht hätte, auch wenn es 0:0 gestanden wäre. Man sagt zwar man kann auf kein X spielen, doch Rafa hat vor dem Spiel bestimmt an ein mögliches 0:0 gedacht.

Man hat aber gesehen, das sich auch Chelsea schwer tut wenn eine Mannschaft hinten dicht macht. Gegen Barcelona gewann man, weil die Katalanen von ihrere Mentalität har einfach nicht verteidigen können und halt immer nach vorne spielen wollen. Gegen die Bayern sah das Ganze schon anderes aus, doch war zweimal ein abgefälschter Schuss von Lampard ausschlaggebend, so ein Glück hatte man heute nicht.

Es war zwar zu erwarten das Liverpool sehr tief stehen würde, doch das sie das die ganzen 90. Minuten unbeschadet durchstehen hätte ich mir nie und nimmer gedacht.

Ich hoffe nur Liverpool ist stark genug Milan in einem Spiel zuschlagen, doch das bezweifle ich einwenig.

Insgeheim lacht sich Ancelotti bestimmt ins Fäustchen, da man im Finale den vermutlich leichteren Gegner vorfinden, auch wenn Liverpool Chelsea geschlagen hat, mehr Potenzial haben eindeutig die Blues.

[Wuifal]

Chelsea wurde mit den eigenen Waffen geschlagen. Liverpool war perfekt auf die Blues eingestellt und wiederholte eigentlich genau das, was sie bereits im Liga-Pokal-Finale machten. Schnelle Führung, danach nur noch top organisiert hinten agieren. Nur dass sich diesmal keine 2 Liverpool-Spieler beim Kopfball behinderten und Stevie Gerrard den Ball ins eigene Tor lenkt ! Schon damals war klar, dass Chelsea gegen defensiv gut stehende Teams kaum was ausrichten können (zumindest aus dem Spiel heraus). Kann mich in den beiden Partien kaum an eine herausgespielte Chance erinnern (bis auf die Lampard-Chance aus 3 Metern). So verdient man kein CL-Finale, schon gar nicht wenn man in 180 Minuten kein Tor macht.

Insgeheim lacht sich Ancelotti bestimmt ins Fäustchen, da man im Finale den vermutlich leichteren Gegner vorfinden, auch wenn Liverpool Chelsea geschlagen hat, mehr Potenzial haben eindeutig die Blues.

Sehe ich nicht so. Empfinde Liverpool als den weit unangenehmeren Gegner, da sie unberechenbarer sind. Defensiv stehen sie mindestens genauso sicher wie Chelsea (zumindest in der CL) und offensiv haben sie einen echten Spielmacher, den Chelsea nicht hat, nämlich Luis Garcia, für mich überhaupt ein herausragender Spieler dieser CL-Saison.

Aber übers Finale diskutieren wir erst, wenns soweit ist, noch ist Milan nicht durch

[moasta]

is schon traurig wenn eine der besten mannschaften der welt, kein mittel gegen eine zwar kompakte aber, wie ich finde, nicht übermächtige abwehr, keine anderes mitel findet. weil den hyypiä kann man im laufduell locker mal stehn lassen wie ich finde, in der Luft zwar eine macht, am boden allerdings nicht mehr der schnellste!

bin froh das es liverpool geschafft hat, bin einfach absolut kein chelsea fan.

bzgl. Gudjohnson's chance, ich glaub es war ziemlich schwer den zu machen, da stehn ungefähr 5 leute im/kurz vorm tor rum da gibts nichts anderes als er gemacht hat in der situation, überhaupt wennst noch einen gegner neben dir hast, als den ball einfach knallhart in die mitte zu donnern... man hat ja gesehn das da 2 Spieler nur ganz knapp (glaub drogba und carragher warens) daneben vorbeigerauscht sind! dudeks flugeinlage vor der chance war ja wieder mal sensationell übrigends

[Joker]

Mitunter war der gestrige Fussballabend auf dramatisch niedrigem Niveau...unglaublich wie unfähig Liverpool war die Bälle trotz genügend Raum und freier Mitspieler zu halten und für offensive Entlastung zu sorgen....

Das Chelsea sich aber nahtlos an dieses schwache Spiel anpasst hätte ich mir nicht gedacht, und vom Welttrainer José Mourinho hätte ich mir auch mehr erwartet als Robert Huth in den Sturm zu stellen...

Ob es Tor war oder nicht ist (fast) nebensächlich, denn (sofern ich keine Zeitlupe verpasst habe) es hätte genausogut auch eine rote Karte für Petr Cech und Elfmeter geben können...

Begeistert bin ich vor allem von John Arne Riise, was der im Sprint für Kilometer gemacht hat war wirklich außergewöhnlich und wie er den weiten Ausschuss von Dudek direkt vor der Outlinie mit der Brust mitgenommen hat war ebenfalls eine tolle Aktion...

[moasta]

Ob es Tor war oder nicht ist (fast) nebensächlich, denn (sofern ich keine Zeitlupe verpasst habe) es hätte genausogut auch eine rote Karte für Petr Cech und Elfmeter geben können...

stimmt wenn ein stürmer mit gestrecktem bein auf den tormann zukommt, und den ball noch kurz bevor der goalie am ball ist, wegspitzelt und eben nicht mehr abbremsen kann und so voll in den tormann reindonnert muss man rot und elfer geben!

bin selber tormann, solche szenen gibts oft aber ich glaub ich hab in solchen (und ähnlichen situationen) entweder stürmerfoul bekommen oder das spiel ging weiter, aber keinen elfmeter...

sehs viell anders und aus der sicht des torhüters, aber elfer wars für mich keiner und ich glaub auch das der schiri (bei den eigentlich relativ wenigen fouls die er gepfiffen hat da nicht reingeblasen hätte

[Gampern]

Wo sind die Spastiker, die Maureen als besten Trainer des Universums sehen?

Sie wurden gestern wohl eindrucksvoll widerlegt! Taktisch war das 0, gar nichts! Aber natürlich, für Erfolge ist einzig und allein der Trainer verantwortlich, für Niederlagen die Mannschaft! Falls jetzt jemand zu argumentieren versucht, Liverpool hatte ja soviel Glück, dem sei gesagt, dass Porto die CL auch nur mit Glück gewonnen hat (Utd u. Depotivo)!

Und ja, ich bin nicht sonderlich beigeistert, dass dieser unnötige Verein im Finale steht, aber dieses grossmäulige Arschloch einmal derart niedergeschlagen zu sehen, war einfach fuckin' priceless!

[Lucky Luke]

Gestern hat man wieder gesehen, warum ich den englischen Fußball nicht mag (ist nicht böse gemeint). Alles wird in höchstem Tempo gespielt, es wir gelaufen, bis zum Geht nicht mehr, aber es kommt praktisch nichts dabei heraus. Es gab eine Torchance auf beiden Seiten (das Tor von Liverpool war wirklich sehr schön herausgespielt) und unendlich viele Fehlpässe und technische Fehler, für die Fans der Mannschaften war es natürlich extrem spannend, für neutrale Zuschauer aber eher langweilig. Das Spiel wäre viel besser gewesen, wenn sich beide Mannschaften etwas mehr Zeit gelassen und in Ruhe die Angriffe aufgebaut hätten anstatt die Bälle nur hin- und her zu dreschen, vielleicht waren die Spieler aber auch zu nervös, die tolle Stimmung im Stadion scheint sich auf die Nervenkostüme eher negativ ausgewirkt zu haben.

Ich hätte mir nie gedacht, dass Liverpool ins Finale kommen kann, in der Zwischenrunde waren sie ja nicht gerade souverän und wären beinahe ausgeschieden, im Finale wird ihnen Milan aber die Grenzen aufzeigen

[Tom.]

Magerkost mit hohem Tempo, so würd ich das gestrige Spiel beschreiben. Teilweise eine einzige Fehlpassorgie, allerdings mit zwei toll kämpfenden Teams.

CL-Halbfinal-Niveau hatte das gestern keines, bin aber sehr froh, dass die Londoner draussen sind.

Jetzt darf L'pool noch Milan erledigen, schön wär's!

PS: Zur Einwechslung von Huth sollte gesagt werden, dass er unmittelbar vor der Großchance in der 96. Minute das entscheidende Kopfballduell gewonnen hat-die Geschichte hätte auch aufgehen können... War aber auch überrascht über den Wechsel.

[ianrush]

Money can't buy me love !

[GW-Dede]

jetzt muss heut nur mehr milan nachziehen und mein traumfinale is perfekt

[ianrush]

Mourinho fails to break down the red army's iron curtain

Richard Williams at Anfield

Wednesday May 4, 2005

The Guardian

As Jose Mourinho's dreams of retaining the trophy he won as an underdog last year crashed around him, shattering on the immense barricade erected by his direct adversary, nothing became him as well as his manner of accepting defeat - at least until he got in front of a microphone. There was a long embrace for Rafael Benítez, followed by a moment of commiseration with John Terry and a march across the pitch to bestow a firm handshake on every Liverpool player. And then a swift withdrawal to contemplate the first serious reverse of his dazzling career in management.

Under the increasingly distraught eyes of Roman Abramovich, Mourinho had simply been outwitted. Unable to call on the duo of Damien Duff and Arjen Robben, whose swift and unpredictable combinations gave wings to Chelsea's season back in November, he could find nothing in his armoury with which to pierce Liverpool's astonishing resistance.

For Anfield constructed three layers of defence last night. The first, the conven tional back four, did everything that could have been expected of them, with Jamie Carragher again setting the tone. But those demands had already been reduced by the partnership of Didi Hamann and Igor Biscan in a front screen which gradually eroded the morale of Chelsea's forwards. And the third layer was formed by the 17,000 fans filling the old Kop and creating a steel wall of noise that surely kept out Eidur Gudjohnsen's blazing cross-shot in the sixth and final minute of stoppage time.

A goal at that moment would have sent Chelsea through to the final in Istanbul and they will tell themselves that, on balance, they played the better football. But the facts are that Liverpool did the job they set out to do and Chelsea did not. Now Mourinho's players will return to Stamford Bridge forever ruing their crucial inability to score a goal at home in last week's first leg.

You could only wonder what Sven-Goran Eriksson, watching from his seat in the front row of the directors' box, made of it all, this festival of English passion in which no more than five Englishmen were on the field at the kick-off. If the England manager could capture such emotions and transfer them to the national team, then success at the World Cup next summer would be all but assured.

It was strange how a pair of foreign coaches and the players from 13 other nations represented in the starting line-ups could concoct a match so true to the way in which the English game likes to think of itself. As the ball rocketed from one penalty area to the other, interrupted only by muscular clearances and full-blooded tackles, television audiences in Milan, Madrid, Barcelona and Munich must have been amazed by the mood of furious physical commitment in which the evening was unfolding.

Hemmed in under the angry gaze of the Kop, Chelsea's defenders could not hear themselves think in the opening minutes. As promised, the Liverpool fans were doing their best to provide their team with a 12th man against the newly crowned Premiership champions, their ardour fuelled by tales of the club's glorious past.

Unable to settle themselves down by playing the ball across the line while awaiting the moment to probe a weakness, Chelsea's back four were undone in the fourth minute by nothing more or less than Liverpool's unbridled passion. Communication must have been impossible at the moment when Steven Gerrard's pressure forced Frank Lampard to concede possession inside his own half. A fault-line opened in the blue rearguard and suddenly Liverpool had the goal that would be enough to decide this tie.

For once there was no intervention from the man charged with the primary responsibility for keeping Liverpool's attackers at bay. But when Chelsea gradually recovered their composure and began to piece their game together, Claude Makelele was at the heart of their revival.

Making his 67th Champions League appearance, the little Zaire-born midfielder exerted a significant influence as Chelsea recovered their composure and fought their way back into the first half, abetted by the industrious and selfless Tiago and by Ricardo Carvalho's lightning-fast interceptions. But Lampard, a yard off the pace, failed to take advantage, while Didier Drogba's incorrigible wastefulness constantly presented Liverpool with possession they had no right to expect.

As the second half wore on, the absence of the threat posed in the middle third of the season by Robben and Duff became excruciatingly obvious. Robben's arrival for the final 20 minutes, clearly half-fit, along with the bafflingly hopeless Mateja Kezman and the later insertion of Robert Huth at centre-forward, all demonstrated the extent of Mourinho's desperation. As a piece of tactical thinking it seemed on a par with his decision to send out three substitutes at half-time against Newcastle United in the FA Cup in February, ending up with eight fit men on the pitch and a 1-0 defeat. Not, in fact, the work of a football genius.

Last night, however, he could probably have sent out Roy Bentley, Peter Osgood, Kerry Dixon and Gianfranco Zola without denting Liverpool's resistance in those final minutes. The Kop was breathing its fire into the hearts of the red-shirted defenders now arrayed in front of them and Chelsea's dream of a treble shrivelled in the promised glow. Now, at least, they can relax and enjoy their championship.

Benítez men one game from greatness

Anfield erupts to celebrate the achievement of Gerrard and co

Michael Walker at Anfield

Wednesday May 4, 2005

The Guardian

For Liverpool the end justified the means. To be precise, the noise at the end justified the means. When the Slovakian referee Lubos Michel finally blew the whistle after his extraordinary decision to award six minutes of injury-time - what a sound.

Anfield has exploded down the years but surely this was volume to rival anything heard before. Part joy, part tension, part release, the stadium erupted. As Jose Mourinho said afterwards: "The power of Anfield Road, I felt it."

Liverpool's players were equally struck. Some of them virtually collapsed, the blistering Jamie Carragher being one. He looked as though he had just sweated blood for the club. John Arne Riise was overcome. He fell to the turf, then undressed to his underpants.

Riise was deranged, Steven Gerrard was breathless, but he emerged primarily to salute Carragher. "We are going to the final, to Istanbul, and what a performance Jamie Carragher put in," the captain said. "Immense. Brilliant. What more can you say about it?"

Anfield was as manic as everyone said it would be and their Liverpool team, the Liverpool of Rafael Benítez, have reached a first Champions League final.

Few of them would have been thinking about a match in February at the Millennium Stadium. Chelsea won the League Cup final 3-2 after Liverpool had taken the lead through Riise with 45 seconds gone. More than an hour followed, an hour of patient Chelsea passing, before Gerrard's still incredible headed own-goal brought the Londoners an equaliser. That produced the extra-time which saw the London club prevail and led to Mourinho's attempt to silence the Liverpool fans.

No chance of that last night, and an appearance at a sixth European Cup final awaits them in Istanbul three weeks today, but when the red half of Merseyside comes down some time in the next few days there will surely be a helping of disbelief amid the excitement.

Not only was there the controversy over the winning goal - though to the naked eye it looked over the line - there was an emphasis on defending that verged on addiction. On this night, Liverpool progressed going backwards.

But the point is that they did progress and now players like Carragher, Gerrard and Dietmar Hamann - even the formerly derided Igor Biscan - are one game from greatness.

That is an echo, of course, of Gérard Houllier's statement three years ago, that his Liverpool were "10 games from greatness". His bold proclamation came after a similarly inspiring evening, when Liverpool had to beat Roma by two goals to reach the quarter-final of the Champions League and won 2-0.

Similar to Luis García's early toe-poke here, Jari Litmanen scored a very early penalty that night and Liverpool charged until Emile Heskey headed in the second to take the Reds through. Soon after they would beat Charlton 2-0 to go top of the Premiership.

It all went wrong for Houllier after he made his statement. In the Champions League they lost a bizarre second leg at Bayer Leverkusen to crash out, while in the Premiership they lost at Tottenham and Arsenal overtook them.

The Frenchman battled on until last summer and wherever he was last night he must have viewed the teamsheet and thought to himself: "I signed him." Eight times.

Dudek, Finnan, Hyypia, Riise, Hamann, Traoré, Biscan and Baros - all Houllier purchases. Carragher and Gerrard were already at the club. Benítez's sole purchase in the starting line-up was García.

Houllier's players now bear the imprint of Benítez. And despite Liverpool being 33 points behind Chelsea in the Premiership, Benítez has taken them to 90 minutes from greatness.

But, as the table suggests, it will be a strange kind of greatness. If one had the temerity to mention to a Liverpool fan at around 9.45pm that traditionally greatness is measured in domestic titles, and that there has not been one here since 1990 - when the side of Grobbelaar, Hansen, McMahon and Barnes finished nine points clear of Aston Villa - the reply would not have been audible.

Fans would have countered that in the determination of Carragher - he shrugged Arjen Robben aside in injury time to get to a loose ball in the Liverpool area - and the persistence of Hamann after six weeks out through a knee injury, Liverpool have characters worthy of the club's first European Cup final since Heysel.

The way Hamann dispossessed Didier Drogba and Eidur Gudjohnsen in the space of three minutes in the first half was emblematic of Liverpool's resolve. Carragher, Hyypia and Biscan all helped the cause, and if Gerrard has had more influential games, he provided at least two defining touches.

The first was the pass that propelled Milan Baros into his collision with Petr Cech that led to the goal. The second was a 90th-minute block on the edge of the same area from Gudjohnsen.

There followed a brief handshake with Mourinho as the players of both sides came to terms with the drama of Gudjohnsen's late miss. Gerrard and Mourinho may meet again.

In the stand, Benítez's wife Montse beamed. On each occasion her husband won a trophy in Spain she received a watch. The Benítez family and Liverpool think their time has come again.

Thank you, José Mourinho, from the bottom of my deep red heart, for the bitterest post-match interview ever –– you can never fully understand just how it made victory ten times as sweet, as Liverpool look set to join AC Milan in a battle of the European Heavyweights. (That's a weight in terms of silver, not gold.)

  Thank you, once more, Mr M, for your incitement of the Liverpool fans at Cardiff, as revenge, as we all know, is a dish best served cold –– or white hot, in the case of Anfield. You won that particularly battle, but the Reds won the one you wanted most.

  Thank you, Mr M, for your long-ball tactics where you played the last 20 minutes with a gigantic centre-half as a centre forward (nice), and humped the ball upfield with a regularity even Wimbledon circa 1986 would have been proud of, right onto the twin towers of Sami Hyypia (who said he needs replacing?) and Jamie Carragher –– who, without question, put in the best centre back display I have ever seen.

  (Note to reader: gone is any semblance of attempting to produced a balanced piece of writing –– for those wanting a cool, cold analysis, this is not the place. This piece is written with pure hysteria.)

  I may be getting carried away –– but for the life of me I cannot recall a better performance from a centre back, combining the expert reading of the game of Alan Hansen with the brute force and colossal bravery of Ron Yeats. I don't like to swear in my articles, for fear of offending those of a nervous disposition –– but I guess if your heart withstood the game itself you won't mind me saying that he was fucking awesome. (Not only swearing, but italicising ––  what will middle England think?)

  You, Carra –– and I am now addressing the players personally, having thrown my rule book out of the window –– have made yourself a legend this season, la'. Then again, it's taken me 25 minutes since the final whistle –– hyped up on adrenaline, caffeine and ecstasy (the natural version, although I do want to double-check the contents of this herbal tea)  –– to even remember my own name. It's Rafael, right? I have a horrible suspicion that if it is possible to change your name online, by tomorrow it will be.

  You have a very, very fine side, Mr M, and are worthy Premiership champions. No arguments there. You have a totally amazing keeper, a fantastic defence (how good is John Terry? Almost as good as Carra, I'd say), and a great midfield, but, somewhat surprisingly, at times there is more bypassing taking place than at Spaghetti Junction. Liverpool's football wasn't pretty tonight, we will grant you that, but make no apologies. We played our 'football' in the second half at Stamford Bridge. If teams want to lump it into the mixer, we have the boys to deal with that. Somehow I don't think Milan will be so rudimentary.

  Alas Mr M, your football just reminds me of Gérard Houllier's, only with slightly better players. A Robben and a Duff, and Ged would have made Liverpool champions in 2002. Somehow Rafael Benítez just seems that bit better as a tactician, and motivation and self-assurance could not win a battle of wits. There are clearly two special ones. With Porto you won the European Cup based almost exclusively on a sound defence, so you cannot complain. It's just funny that Liverpool out-Porto'd you.

  You have the better team, Mr M, and I will not contest that. For £213m you should have some quality, and that doesn't include the £11m for Frank Lampard. (How good is Lampard? Almost as good as Gerrard or Alonso, I'd say.) But tonight proved how closely the teams are matched. Over five games, there's been next-to-nothing to choose, with a single goal deciding each. Two of the three goals your team has scored past mine (as a fan, I mean –– I don't really think I am Rafael Benítez) in the 90 minutes of those five games have been extremely flukey. When luck runs out, it's a cruel, cruel world.

  Anyway, Mr M. Enough about you. Otherwise your ego might get inflated . . .

 

  When I wrote an article a couple of months back, saying that Liverpool will win the Champions League, it wasn't meant to be taken literally. I certainly do not expect that any of the Liverpool players read my stuff, but if they just happened to, by virtue of some freakish 'surfing' accident, I'd like to say: I was just kidding. Honestly. It was a rallying cry, but it wasn't serious. I didn't mean it.

  But –– and it's a big but (and here I desperately want to make a Frank Lampard gag, but in fairness he has slimmed down a little) –– now the 18 of you (and the rest) are going to Istanbul (not Constantinople), you might as well win the damned thing. Enjoy it, by all means. Savour the occasion, soak up the atmosphere. As underdogs it will be your evening, with no hint of pressure or expecation. But give AC Milan (as seems to be the case) a right proper game. (Incidentally, if we were to end up playing PSV, there'd be a lot more pressure on the boys in Red, as PSV would then be underdogs –– despite being a very good side indeed.)

  It's hard to believe the Reds have made it –– it feels totally surreal. Both teams were missing key players, and had injury worries and fitness doubts. But Rafa –– poor, unfairly-slated Rafa –– has had to get used to that all season long. That the Reds have made the final when lacking four strikers for almost the entire campaign is nothing short of miraculous.

  That the Reds finally have something approaching a full team gives the world a chance to see what might have been. Reserves can only take you so far. In this instance, it appears the reserves were not as bad as we thought. Just not as consistent as they need to be –– yet.

  If this wasn't a fair result, I would ask how Jerzy Dudek only had one meaningful save to make over the two legs –– do Chelsea really think that would make them worthy finalists? Peter Cech made four crucial stops, and should have been sent off for his assault on Milan Baros.

  Thank you again, Mr Linesman, for not allowing the referee to wave away Luis Garcia's goal –– given how far behind the line Gallas' foot was, you needed to be strong. You cannot buy everything in football, Chelsea. You, Mr Linesman, gave us justice –– the benefit of the doubt lacking in the shocking decisions for Chelsea against us in three of the four games this season, and the later ludicrous award of six minutes of injury time.

  And thank you, last but most, Eidur Gudjohnsen for missing the sitter in the 97th minute, after you cheated our most graceful, and joint-most important player out of the match.

Credit, where it's due

Why do we subject ourselves to this? I kicked every ball. I kicked the cat about fifteen times. And then I realised I don't even have a cat. (Am I obliged to pay my next-door-neighbour's vet bills, or can I sue the club?). It completes a personal cycle that has denied me getting to games as much as I used to, but my soul still bleeds Red.

  I started writing regular articles on Liverpool back in December 2000, and have since written several hundred. I gave up due to ill health and family commitments, not to mention a serious depression aided and abetted by the team's football post-2002. The time felt right to return in 2004, and although I've been accused of mindless optimism, I've had a good feeling from day one of this regime. Just as during my 'debut' season, the club has put itself back on the map.

  As regular readers will know, in the late autumn of 2004, after several suggestions and promptings, I decided to set out to document, in book form, a football club –– Liverpool, in case you are slow on the uptake –– in a state of flux, but 'preparing to succeed', to quote the manager who, unfortunately, wasn't quite up to the task of finishing off his good work from 2001. It was intended to be about the final years of Gérard Houllier's tenure, and the task facing the new manager. (And still of course will be, to a degree.) It was supposed to be about how the club could work towards –– in a handful of years (preferably a Jeremy Beadle hand, where one finger doesn't count) –– returning to the biggest stage.

  However, never for one moment, in my dreams wildest or otherwise, did I expect to find myself facing a trip to Istanbul, courtesy of an incredibly supportive and generous friend, to savour the Champions League final. It has still not quite sunk in. Having been a season ticket holder for many years, and gone to games home, away and in Europe in the Treble season, I missed Dortmund due to (stupidly, stupidly) booking a honeymoon for that week. (I get accused of too much optimism, but that's proof of my abiding failure to trust the Reds to not let me down.)

  I dare not even imagine that the book will be the record of number five. I had no idea –– not even the slightest inkling –– that this team had it in them to get this far. Not back then, following the away defeat in Monaco. Not once the injuries took hold.

  I expected good things this season under Benítez. Not great things –– at least, not yet. After all, it's just a transitional season, right? (Some transition!)

  Whatever physical state, I aim to be in Istanbul, even if it's in a wheelchair. (Never needed to resort to one yet, and bollocks will you easily crowbar me into one now, but it's the only way to be there, I'll be there.) We have, as yet, won nothing made of silver, but we have won through to the final. People will sit up and take note. Whatever happens, people will remember this final, and Liverpool's participation. Valencia, Leverkusen and Monaco, from recent seasons, haven't been forgotten. Upsetting the odds to just make it to the final is an achievement in itself, so early into this 'project'.

  I said in my last piece that I didn't want it to be a case of the Reds leading 1-0 with ten minutes to go. Oh 'me of little faith'. Or maybe I just feared Chelsea's ability to find a deflected shot, or the receipt of a dodgy decision? As it transpired, the final ten minutes was 16 minutes long, for no plausible reason. It was suspicious, but the referee couldn't score for Chelsea (although I did half-expect to see him rise at the back stick like a footballing salmon to head home that late free-kick).

  I should have known better, and I apologise profusely to you –– Jamie Carragher, Sami Hyypia, Djimi Traore and Steve Finnan. Three of you have improved almost beyond all recognition this season, and you, Sami (allegedly a little in decline), remain the most consistent centre-half the club has had since its halcyon days. You are now playing second-fiddle, to Carra, but you still so rarely let the side down.

  While it may not be forthcoming elsewhere, credit to you, Gérard Houllier, for buying so many of these players. It is rightly Rafa's victory, and his genius that outfoxed yet another notable adversary, but you played your part. People doubted your legacy, but here it was: ten of your signings starting tonight. You didn't know how to get the best out of them, and your tactics didn't make the last few years of your reign particularly enjoyable (okay, it was hellish at times), but you weren't as bad a judge of a player as people suggested. With the exception of Luis Garcia, this was your team, only managed by a master tactician.

  Credit to Jerzy Dudek for having to put up with the London-based media speculating on the arrival of an expensive new goalkeeper –– surprise, surprise –– on the biggest day of your career. How obvious the attempts at press-based sabotage? You wore your Teflon gloves tonight, and your experience, and calmness, did the team proud. It was like 2002 all over again. Credit to John Arne Riise, for always being there, game after game, and for helping Djibril use up the last of his bleach.

  Credit to Luis Garcia, whose goals in the knock-out stages have literally knocked-out Bayer Leverkusen, Juventus, and now Chelsea. Some said you were not fit to wear the red jersey. Where are they now? You may not be a tackler, but you are as sharp as a tack in and around the box –– 13 goals is a great return from open play, from the wing.

  You occasionally miss sitters, but unlike others, you are there to miss them. If the ball wasn't 100% over the line from your quick-thinking –– dinking over the stranded Chelsea defenders –– then so what? Would Chelsea have rather played the last 87 minutes without a 'keeper, and having to face a penalty? It's just a shame Tiago –– he of the obvious punch on New Year's Day –– wasn't the player on the line, but I am not complaining.

  Credit to Milan Baros –– you cannot buy a goal at the moment, and your form is worrying –– but your touch over Cech, from Gerrard's sublime chip, finally got the better of your international teammate, who had somehow denied you with an improbable save last week. With your friend, Petr, stranded and prone, the way was clear for Luis Garcia. Milan –– you never stop trying, and cause problems with your ultra-intelligent running (if only your all-round game was the same), dragging defenders out of the way for Luis Garica, in the main, to profit. Not everyone will notice the more selfless side of your work, but stick at it. (And please, even if you use your arse or your ear, stick one in the net soon.)

  Credit to Djibril Cissé, to whom the best chances of the night fell –– a half-decent header, a late deflected shot, and an attempted lob in the 94th minute –– but the expected rustiness was apparent. Make no mistake, my friend (and I speak here without knowing you personally), just for you to be out there remains the highlight of the season for me. While the other Reds were getting the plaudits on the pitch, you were working so incredibly hard in the gym –– which none of us could see, or applaud –– as any athlete who has suffered broken limbs knows. Except, there are broken limbs, and there are injuries that come within minutes of an amputation. Your dedication was truly outstanding, and you are reaping your rewards. The final awaits your winner.

  Credit to Steven Gerrard, for standing up for Scouse pride in the face of a difficult time from the London media. No man alive is immune to temptation, and we all know what it is like to have our head turned, but if you were ruing your decision to stay at Liverpool when Chelsea beat Bolton on Saturday, I am sure you will have –– and I quote Kevin Keegan here –– loved it, loved it, when the final whistle went tonight. Remember: only the best are there to be shot at.

  And credit Igor Biscan, a man many thought to have no future. Not just at Liverpool, but full-stop. You put a nervous first-half behind you, and were gigantic in the second half. (It will be some decision, for Rafa to choose between Didi Hamann and the big Croat, as Gerrard and Alonso are shoo-ins.)

  Gigantic - as, it goes without saying, were all the men in red. I thank you all: from Rafa all the way down to the tea lady and the kit-man, who, it seems, only ever get mentioned in sarcastic barbs. This is a club going to Turkey, not a few superstars.

  I have to admit that this was a difficult game to have to miss, especially as I recalled all the semi-finals I have attended in recent seasons (there has been a fair few, hasn't there?). Funnily enough, one that sticks out the most was not Barcelona from April 2001, but Crystal Palace a few months earlier. The atmosphere was incredible, with Anfield buoyed by the response to a 2-1 first-leg deficit, and from Clinton Morrison's comments in the press. I have foggy memories of the Barcelona semi-final, but against Palace the place was electric. Maybe as we were so quickly out of the blocks, going 3-0 up in 20 minutes.

  It was the same here –– flying start –– although it was just the one goal this time. But just as then, the villain of the piece –– this time Icelandic –– screwed horribly into the Kop (the Kop! oh how sweet!) with the net at his mercy.

  Note to all visiting players: underestimate the mythical power of those 12,000 people at your peril; especially with the spirit and soul of 100,000 others crowded behind that goal. Gudjohnsen even got a cut eye for his troubles at that end of the pitch. Diving on the spur of the moment is one thing, but planned and premeditated diving to deny another professional his place can only lead to one thing: cosmic justice. It's the only kind of justice that is above the influence of money.

  Enjoy your night, fellow Reds. Enjoy the next 21 nights. And then it's wine for Rafa's men, we ride at dawn.

bearbeitet 4. Mai 2005 von ianrush