Liverpool 0, Barca 1

By: Brian | March 7th, 2007

Well, it’s not exactly the way I would have liked our team to advance, but we did what we had to do. It was the same old story for us as we were unable to finish on a plethora of opportunities. I’m not sure what the hell Bellamy was thinking when Gerrard’s cross landed on his lap in front of the goal nor what was going on with Crouchy with Pennant’s cross. That should have been two goals right there. Riise’s misses were understandable as they weren’t the easiest of shots and his header was prevented by just a great play from Pujol. Anfield would have went absolutely nuts had Momo’s shot went in.

Speaking of Sissoko, what a game for him. He made a couple of mistakes, but more than made up for it by giving Barca fits in the middle. He would be man of the match if it weren’t for the hustle and crucial plays by Carragher. I think it’s safe to say Carra was the main reason we advanced. No one in particular had a bad game, but there was some questionable shot selections, especially by Gerrard. Maybe he was just as frustrated as I that his teammates couldn’t hit the back of the net. I really liked the energy Pennant gave us when he came in for Bellamy, but I think it would have been better to leave Bellamy in and take out someone else.

The refereeing was pretty inconsistent and seemingly in Barca’s favor. Gudjohnsen’s goal could have been called offside, but I have no problem that it was not. If Jermaine Pennant had not slipped, I’m sure he would have gotten to the ball first. Thuram should have been sent off for knocking Bellamy in the head, the ref acted like he saw the incident and only gave a warning. I don’t know if he can justify giving us four cards to their one.

The stats are quite a tribute to both defensive efforts. While Barca dominated possession, they were unable to develop plays enough to get good looks at the goal. Their patience on waiting for plays to develop was impressive, but unfortunately nothing came to fruition. On the other hand, Liverpool had plenty of shot opportunities that were either blocked or spoiled by the defense that forced bad shots at difficult angles.

Like I said before, this is not the way I wanted to advance. We need to get better at finishing or we won’t last much longer in this competition. As for who I’d prefer to play in the next round, I don’t really care that much. I sort of hope Arsenal advances and we get them though because we need to prove to ourselves that we can beat them.