Liverpool FC: a night of tension and delight
Posted by Akzoony in Champions League, Liverpool | 7 March 2007
I’M exhausted so god only knows how the Liverpool players must feel this morning.
Unable to get a ticket I holed up last night with my nose inches from the TV at home. A vigil for one; this was a night filled with too much emotion to be shared.
An unbelievable start was highlighted with the presence of our two new -before now unknown- multi-million pound strikers ruling the show. The first -one ‘John Arne Riise’- seemed destined to score each time he touched the ball, skipping with ease past a narrow Barca defence. The second ‘Momo Sissoko‘ was a man never before seen so close to the 18 yard box with only one thought in mind and the woodwork was made to suffer.
Chance after chance flew in but as each passed the tension continued to mount.
Finally I remembered to blink and as I desperately teased some moisture back into my bloodshot eyes I realised the halftime whistle had blown.
What followed was largely much of the same with the current European champions finally beginning to make more of their possession but still finding attempt after attempt blocked or blunted by a truly magnificently organised Liverpool side.
Each time the ball was regained a run instantly materialised from Riise on the left, Gerrard on the right or Bellamy through the middle, carving through the Barca ranks.
As one, the rest of the Liverpool side moved -as though controlled by one mind- high up the pitch in disciplined ranks, each man knowing his task and completing it with skill and maturity.
Finally the inevitable happened after so many missed chances and Barca scored. A moment’s lack of concentration resulted in gifting enough space for Eidur Gudjohnsen to take the ball behind Reina and slot it home.
An anxious few moments followed for the team yet the ever dependable Anfield crowd came to the rescue and ‘the fields of Anfield road’ reverberated throughout the ground. Visibly lifted Liverpool continued to press yet the remaining 15 minutes passed with an agonising lack of speed.
Mindful of the recent match against United and many similar occasions over the last few years I stared in silence at the screen desperately wishing for each second of the 3 minutes injury time to pass.
Then finally it had. We had made it through to the quarter finals of the Champions league against the best footballing side in the world.
Still. I sat there listening to ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone’ waiting for 90 minutes of built up tension to slowly pass. Part of me loved the way we played, loved the power of the atmosphere and the occasion and is overjoyed that we are through but it is hard to truly enjoy such a game with so much at stake while it is underway.
I marvelled at the power and impeccable performance of Carragher and Finnan, the drive and creativity of Gerrard, the hard and ugly work put in by Kuyt and the strong disciplined performance of Alonso.
Any could and should be awarded man of the match, and if I were to choose I would give it to Jamie Carragher, however on this occasion the whole team deserved it. The way each and every one of them ran themselves into the ground will make them grateful that they do not have another competitive premiership game for 12 days and made us proud that we support this greatest team in the world.
I will be watching it again tonight with a few beers and a few mates round. And this time I’m going to love every minute of it!
TrackBack
TrackBack URL for this entry:
http://www.reallifenews.com/cgi-bin/mt/mt-tb.cgi/852
