Wednesday, March 11, 2009

the day liverpool tore madrid apart...

Despite the title of the post, I honestly think it was a flattering scoreline. Too flattering in fact.

4-0.

Who would've thought this match will end with such scoreline?

Anyway, even with the four goals (one invalid penalty with the lousy linesman's error), Liverpool looked comfortable for only about an hour of the match. From then onwards, it was all Real Madrid, and if they have half the luck, Raul could've scored a few to make the final score more realistic.

Reina had a great match and saved all the shots coming towards the goalmouth, and the backline was immensely compact. Arbeloa must be drifting in wonderland though towards the end as his flank was constantly exposed, but credit to Aurelio for upping his tempo and contributing so much in the match.

Mascherano must be desperate for attention, he was all over the pitch. In fact, he was so dominating I didn't realize Alonso was playing at all until the Spaniard got substituted. Thumbs up for the Argentinian captain's performance, Liverpool will miss his presence in the next round with the automatic one-match ban for kicking the ball away.

Babel showed character in this match, and for all the hype of him being a selfish player, he actually created two goals directly. Something to praise, and hopefully he will come to realize that not all heroes score the goal, the assists are just as important.

Finally, the combination of Gerrard and Torres when both are fit: Awesome.

I'd like to know what was going through Cannavaro's mind when he was left hanging in the middle of nowhere as Torres deftly flicked the ball past him three minutes into the match. Must've shat his pants when Torres just strolled past him there, classic.

Another important game over, and next comes Man Utd at Old Trafford. Would love to see Liverpool put up a decent challenge against the Devils, although I think it would do little to alter the outcome of the title race.

3 comments:

cLiu said...

one word --- hao lian, hmph!

(dun understand go ask sharon)

cLiu

NiC said...

and i think the first goal is questionable as well... my opinion - mascherano (i think) pulled back on the defender (forgot what's his name) and got the extra space to send the cross in... anyway, you should give liverpool more credit for their victory yeah? they played the game at a much higher tempo and cause madrid some real probs...

man utd vs liv for champions league quarter-final... that would be a good match... =P

Livingmonolith said...

hmm, i don't know how to describe the first goal, pepe (the defender) looked to be falling quite dramatically even if there was any kind of contact. it was kuyt who crossed for torres to score, but replay shows that if anyone fouled pepe it's more likely torres than kuyt, he just chased down pepe's missed clearance.

but anyway, the game's over so let's just look forward to the next match. btw, when will the UCL draw be?