Liverpool FC Forum

by **El Nino_#9** » Wed Dec 12, 2007 2:49 am

bring on Real Madrid next round please!

the prospect of Torres scoring a hatrick against them at the Bernabau! :;):

by **LittleHobo** » Wed Dec 12, 2007 3:11 am

heimdall wrote:Torres is a footballing God, I still reckon we need a good second striker, although I thought Kuyt had a good game today. If Kuyt could just get a bit of confidence i think he could be half decent but he'll never be a Torres

you wouldnt want another torres anyway

i think eventually babel could partner him

but in the meanwhile i would like us to sign a gianfranco zola type.....a link man......basically like kuyt but loads better

by **ConnO'var** » Wed Dec 12, 2007 3:20 am

Feckin 'ell!.... I can't believe I overslept and missed the game.

Am made up that we won and apparently by all accounts, played very well.

Can't really comment too much as I didn't see the game, will catch tonight's repeat hopefully.
ONWARDS the red men!!!

by **lio** » Wed Dec 12, 2007 3:56 am

Here's a quite good and complete report, i.e. if you also happen to miss the repeat on telly ...

Marseille crushed by Reds revival in Champions League football

MARSEILLE, France (AFP) - - Liverpool marched into the knockout stages of the Champions League with a convincing 4-0 win over an outclassed Marseille here on Tuesday.

An early strike from captain Steven Gerrard was followed by a superb solo effort from Fernando Torres, a Dirk Kuyt goal early in the second half and a stoppage time effort from substitute Ryan Babel as Liverpool became the first English club to win at the home of France's best-supported club.

From the fourth minute, when Gerrard knocked in the rebound from his own penalty, there was little doubt that Liverpool would complete a remarkable turnaround in their fortunes in group A.

A 1-0 defeat by Marseille at Anfield in October had left Rafael Benitez's side with just one point from their opening three matches.

Since then however they have beaten Besiktas 8-0 and FC Porto 4-1 at home and the equally comfortable nature of this win will send them the five-times champions into the last 16 - and Sunday's Premier League showdown with Manchester United - in confident mood.

Having become the first French club to win at Anfield, as well as having won all six of their previous encounters with English opponents at the Stade Velodrome, Marseille kicked off with good reason to believe they could progress.

But within 11 minutes, the home side's confidence and chances of survival had both been shatterd by a combination of some casual defending and the brilliance of Torres.

Benitez's decision to start Kuyt at the expense of Peter Crouch was vindicated inside three minutes when the Dutch striker clipped a simple ball beyond a flat-heeled back four to send Gerrard steaming towards the Marseille goal.

Tripped by Laurent Bonnart's desperate lunge, the Liverpool captain got up to take the resulting penalty himself.

Marseille's goalkeeper, Steve Mandanda, did well to block a rising strike but the rebound fell kindly for Gerrard, who gratefully side-footed the ball home from six yards.

Softened up by that sucker punch, Marseille were left reeling seven minutes later by the brilliance of Torres.

Collecting a pass from Harry Kewell in the inside left channel just outside the box, the Spaniard swept past Lorik Cana, sidestepped Julien Rodriguez and coolly threaded his shot beyond Mandanda's dive and into the far corner of the net.

Torres's 12th goal of his first season at Liverpool failed to silence the defiantly boisterous home supporters but it certainly drained the life out of their team.

Not until mid-way through the half, when Karim Ziani's clever pass put Mathieu Valbuena in on goal, did the home side managed to generate a sniff of a chance.

Valbuena, Marseille's match-winner at Anfield, was let down by a heavy first touch as he attempted to go round Pepe Reina and the ball trundled safely into touch.

Facing defeat, Marseille opted to throw highly-rated young playmaker Samir Nasri into the fray ten minutes from the end of the half.

But it was the visitors who continued to dominate and they might easily have added to their advantage in the minutes before the interval, a Gerrard freekick falling just the wrong side of Mandanda's right-hand post before Kewell volleyed an inviting chance over the bar.

The Australian winger made amends for that miss soon after the restart by smartly teeing up Kuyt for Liverpool's third after Mandanda had sliced a clearance straight to him on the left touchline.

Kewell gathered the ball and immediately picked out the unmarked Kuyt, who was left with only the goalkeeper to beat and calmly tucked his shot inside the near post.

Former Liverpool striker Djibril Cisse went close with a header just after the hour mark but that was to be as near as Marseille came to mounting the fightback and Babel rounded off the rout in stoppage time after being sent clear by John Arne Riise.

by **Aussie_Liverpool_Fan** » Wed Dec 12, 2007 4:59 am

Good to see Liverpool win and progress to the next round.
It was also quite impressive to see Kewell play well(I am an Aussie).

by **ConnO'var** » Wed Dec 12, 2007 5:01 am

Cheers lio!.... much appreciated.

by **oakton** » Wed Dec 12, 2007 5:21 am

great win, that's what we are capable of.

But Riise seems like he wants to convince Gerrard that he should be the one taking the free kick, I hope Gerrard tells him to :censored:

off everytime.

by **josip84** » Wed Dec 12, 2007 6:58 am

Congratulations for your great win last night. Marseille were outplayed from beginning to end. What we did to you at Anfield, you did to us at the Velodrome, four times as much. Good luck to you for the rest of the season!

by **bigmick** » Wed Dec 12, 2007 8:18 am

josip84 wrote:Congratulations for your great win last night. Marseille were outplayed from beginning to end. What we did to you at Anfield, you did to us at the Velodrome, four times as much. Good luck to you for the rest of the season!

Fair play to you mate for coming on here after that match, it takes guts. Hope you win the UEFA Cup as well.

by **The_Rock** » Wed Dec 12, 2007 8:56 am

Think Sevilla should be the easiest of the lot..so hope we draw them (ie....so sevilla have to finish top)...

by **The Manhattan Project** » Wed Dec 12, 2007 9:25 am

Liverpool vs Real Madrid
Liverpool vs AC Milan
Liverpool vs Barcelona
Liverpool vs Inter Milan
Liverpool vs Sevilla

I hope we don't get Sevilla, because I have a bad feeling that if we get the so-called "easy" team Sevilla, we may be overconfident and get knocked out. Personally I'd like either AC Milan (to get revenge for the final last year) or Real Madrid.

by **bunglemark2** » Wed Dec 12, 2007 9:28 am

When's the draw ?

by **Lucky** » Wed Dec 12, 2007 9:32 am

bunglemark2 wrote:When's the draw ?

Next Friday - Dec. 21

by **Dutchsky** » Wed Dec 12, 2007 9:53 am

Torres and Kuyt is a good partnership.
Torres is a typical striker. Kuyt is a smart player and see's a lot of openings to assist others and he can score too.

by **Huck** » Wed Dec 12, 2007 10:09 am

Brilliant performance last night, when a big team needs a victory, it usually gets it with a professional performance las yesterday's. Personally, I don't want a clash LFC - Real Madrid till the final match...it would be beautiful, but hard for me.

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