A part of me had lost faith in the fact that anything good would happen for us this year.. So I stopped writing..With Torres ruled out for the rest of the season, everything looked bleak..But then I remembered that this is Liverpool FC , not Torres FC ... Which brings me back to the match at Vicente Calderon..
After making an epic 26 hour journey to Madrid (I hate the volcanic ash that broke out from Iceland, stopping all air travel), exhaustion was inevitable.. Mascherano and Benitez both looked enervated at the press conference..Because such things are never suitable before playing a match of such magnitude at the top level...
However, in absence of Nando, Ngog was given the responsibility of leading the line upfront,with Stevie Gerrard playing behind him, midfield of Lucas and Mascherano with Kuyt and Benayoun on the wings..and Johnson,Carra,Soto and Agger alongwith Reina making up the backline in a 4-4-1-1 formation..the game started at a languid pace, and considering what was at stake, it was pretty much expected.. The first real action came in the 9th minute, with Jurado crossing the ball to Forlan, who scuffed his header into his own feet, and on the second chance, bundled the ball into the back of the net.. a poor start for us, and with that goal, Atletico came all out attacking.. with Reyes at the heart of it..Then Liverpool had a goal disallowed when Benayoun latched on to Kuyt's scuffed effort to expertly put it past De Gea..We can feel deprived as Benayoun was clearly onside but refereeing is appalling these days , so no criticism..
Forlan wasted another chance for Atletico when he found himself onside for a hopeful pass, only to show cheekiness by trying to loop it over Reina with his weaker foot, which resulted in him passing the ball back to Reina... The best chance for Liverpool fell to Gerrard, who made a darting run past the Atletico to meet a pass by Lucas, only to hit the side netting ...During the second half , Atletico, made a couple of decent chances, with Reina denying Simao from point blank range and saving another powerful effort from Ujfalusi which Carra cleared..Apart from that, there was hardly any meaningful action throughout the course of the match, with both the teams huffing and puffing without any end result..
FINAL VERDICT - Even though the performance wasn't good, its only half time, so we're still in with a chance..
PLAYER RATINGS -
Reina - My MOTM.. Made a couple of brilliant saves to keep us alive in the tie..8
Johnson - At fault for the first goal, and didn't offer much in the attacking third..5
Kyrgiakos - Unfortunate slip during the first goal, but much better after that..6
Carra - Best of the defensive lot, making crucial clearances..7
Agger- Like Johnson, failed to contain the threat of Reyes on the left..5
Kuyt- Mediocre , to say the least..5
Masch - Did his defensive work, but passing was poor at times..5
Lucas - Apart from the Gerrard pass, utterly anonymous.. 4
Benayoun- One of the better players..Provided the creative spark for the Reds going forward..7
Gerrard - Made a couple of decent runs in the box, but finishing was dismal..5
Ngog - The less said , the better.. Gave away possession far too many times..4
Babel - no rating
Now, what aggravates me the most about this team is that even before Torres, Liverpool used to be a team to be reckoned with, but with the gaffer building the team around his skills and superior finishing, Liverpool's dependence on Torres has increased to such an extent that his absence means a paucity of goals, and that's embarrassing..Moreover, the lad is very injury prone, so it has backfired spectacularly.. And I don't understand why Benitez has made Aquilani an outcast, the man's clearly got talent and the creativity alongwith guile, and was the best player against Fulham..So Benitez's preference of playing the below par Lucas, who consistently under performs, is absolutely baffling.. And I feel bad for David Ngog .. The young lad has to bear the brunt of the fans, when he's clearly not ready to lead the line on his own..And the most worrying of the lot is Gerrard..He's been playing regularly for quite sometime now, but hasn't got his goalscoring touch back..
Come the second leg, I hope Benitez plays with a more positive attacking line up, with Kuyt preferably leading the line upfront..With the roar of the KOP, i hope its another trademark European night at Anfield, and I expect Gerrard to return to his talismanic best..
[Anyone else thinks that this season as one of the poorest in our history coincides with Lucas playing regularly..]
YNWA
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