After thumping Burnley 4-0 at Turf Moor, Liverpool turned back their attention to the return leg against Atletico, the biggest game of the season, where a win by a margin of two goals would see us go through to the final of the Europa League..But would have a more formidable opposition to face with Aguero back in their ranks..
The home team started with a 4-4-1-1 formation, with Kuyt leading the line upfront, and Gerrard for support, while Aquilani also started alongside Lucas as Benayoun and Babel played on the wings..I found the defensive line a little suspect, with Masch on the right and Johnson on the left, and Carra and Agger in the middle..
Liverpool showed their intentions very clearly from the start when a flick on from Kuyt resulted in Benayoun taking a shot across goal which was parried away by the young De Gea.. Liverpool won several corners to put Atletico on the back foot .. And created a glorious chance when Aquilani , Gerrard and Kuyt played in neat little triangles to put the ball wide to Masch, who put in an inviting cross which Kuyt somehow missed from 3 yards..
Then, at the end of the half came the breakthrough.. Benayoun ran to the byline and crossed the ball beautifully in the box, which was stabbed home by Aquilani with accuracy..The Italian showing his quality in the final third..
The second half though was a bit more subdued with neither side forcing the issue taking the match into extra time..By the start of ET, the influential Aquilani was substituted by El Zhar and Masch by Degen.. Liverpool got the all important breakthrough on the 95th min when Benayoun broke the offside trap to meet Lucas' pass and hit it across De Gea to give Liverpool the all important lead in the tie..But the Merseyside hearts were broken by an old foe..Reyes took advantage of Johnson's poor positioning and crossed into the box which was thumped by Forlan into the top corner to give Atletico the advantage on away goals.. Liverpool's vain attempt at goal after that beared no fruit as we went out of the Europa League on away goals..
Final Verdict - If Fulham could do it, so could we.. I feel the team is in a turmoil at the moment..
I don't even feel like rating the players today as I am bitterly disappointed .. The only players worthwhile of wearing a Red shirt today were Aquilani, Benayoun and Reina.. Rest of them need to take a long , hard look at themselves to see if they should have the crest on their shirts..I do praise the team for working very hard and giving it their all, but too many individual performances cost us dearly..Kuyt might work hard but his glaring miss just reflects he's not good enough.. Ditto for Lucas .. I empathize with Johnson and Masch for playing in unfamiliar roles.. But the poorest was of the skipper..He was utterly anonymous...
And I feel that its time that Rafa stands up and takes the blame..Playing players out of position and favoritism are just two of his flaws.. He keeps cribbing about lack of funds when we have spent close to 38 m £ on Aqua and Johnson.. His biggest mistake is not being able to get the best out of his players and motivate them enough..He should take a leaf out of Hodgson's book.. I feel for the club to move forward, something's got to give , and fast..
YNWA
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