Liverpool hold on to beat Barca
Benitez was undoubtedly pleased with his side's effort on a pulsating night
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Tuesday, 06, Mar 2007 10:42
A 1-0 win at Anfield was not enough for the Champions League holders as Barcelona were knocked out of this year's competitions by the 2005 winners Liverpool.
In a match that saw the home side dominate for large portions of the first half before the visitors piled on the pressure in the second, Eidur Gudjohnson scored the only goal but the 2-1 reverse in the first leg proved too much for the Spanish side to overcome, going out on the away goals rule.
A high-tempo first half began with Liverpool in the ascendancy as they looked hungrier and more in tune with one another than their disjointed opponents.
Barcelona, playing with three at the back, looked out of sorts to begin with and failed to mount any significant threat to the home side's goal.
Not so for the Merseysiders though. The early pressure from Liverpool, much of it coming from good work down the left from John Arne Riise, was almost rewarded when the marauding Norwegian hit the bar with a stinging left-foot shot.
Liverpool continued to pressure the Barcelona players into mistakes and although they had their fair share of possession, the Spanish side had little coherence to unlock the home defence.
Ronaldinho, Lionel Messi and Samuel Eto'o were all well shackled by a stingy Liverpool rear guard, not least holding man Momo Sissoko, who also proved his attacking mettle with a long-distance strike that hit the bar after a poor Victor Valdes clearance.
Early in the second half Liverpool survived a substantial scare when Ronaldinho pirouetted his way through the previously solid backline of the home side but his placed shot hit Pepe Reina's left-hand post.
Barcelona began to press forward in search of that elusive goal, throwing on former Chelsea forward Eidur Gudjohnsen in place of defender Lilian Thuram to switch to an attacking 3-3-4 formation.
And it took just a matter of minutes for the Icelander to make an impact. A slide-rule pass from Xavi put Gudjohnsen through and he took it round the goalkeeper to silence Anfield in the 75th minute.
However, despite some last-ditch defending and a couple of scares from long balls, Barcelona were knocked out by a Liverpool side that deserved more than a 1-0 defeat on the night.
The two goals in the Nou Camp were enough though and the Reds march on into the Champions League quarter-finals at the expense of the defending champions.