Champions League Draw 2007/2008

GROUP A
Liverpool
FC Porto
Marseille
Besiktas

GROUP B
Chelsea
Valencia
Schalke 04
Rosenborg

GROUP C
Real Madrid
Werder Bremen
Lazio
Olympiakos

GROUP D
AC Milan
Benfica
Celtic
Shakhtar Donetsk

GROUP E
Barcelona
Lyon
VfB Stuttgart
Rangers

GROUP F
Manchester United
Roma
Sporting Lisbon
Dynamo Kiev

GROUP G
Inter Milan
PSV Eindhoven
CSKA Moscow
Fenerbahce

GROUP H
Arsenal
Sevilla (now confirmed)/AEK Athens
Steaua Bucharest
Slavia Prague

Of the groups there, Arsenal and Chelsea seem to have got easier groups, but no Champions League match is easy. Hopefully, Liverpool will be able to grab a few early wins and go through easily.

Liverpool 4 (5) - 0 (0) Toulouse

A rousing win, although Toulouse played horribly, really. But the best part of the match was definitely the singing of Z Cars at the beginning of it. Z Cars is to Everton what You'll Never Walk Alone is to Liverpool, but the Liverpool fans sang it nonetheless, in memory of Rhys Jones, the 11-year-old who had been stabbed. This goes to show that there are more important things than football, and it warmed my heart to see the Kop belt out Z Cars and Rhys Jones' family being there.

YNWA and R.I.P. Rhys Jones

Apart from that, the match was pretty one-sided, Liverpool dominating for most of it and really, there should have been six or seven goals in it, with the number of chances they created. Good to see Leto and Leiva get their debuts, before that I thought they were Lucas Leto, one person! Leto looked a decent prospect, while I didn't see much of Lucas. Benayoun has, however, convinced me he is class, and so is Babel, for the limited time he was on. Good to see Crouch and Kuyt grabbing their goals, too. And Hyypia did well to get his goal, who would have thought the big Finn would score a header after breaking his nose a match before?

Also, here's a snippet of a commentary of the Liverpool vs Toulouse match:

"Cross to Crouch at the far post, and he poked it home."

"The Toulouse defense might have mistaken him for the far post."

"Really?..... but the post is wider."

Sunderland 0-2 Liverpool

This match would prove to be difficult for Liverpool, for often have the Reds struggled to beat defensive teams that worked hard, being unable to break down stubborn defenses to score goals. This would prove to be a match that would show much Rafa Benitez has improved the Liverpool team this season, as it would be a stern test and Liverpool would have to fight hard.

Roy Keane got his newly promoted side fired up and ready to battle it out at the Stadium of Light, and they emerged with a lot of energy, closing Liverpool down whenever the Reds had the ball, running everywhere and fighting for every bit of possession they could get. Liverpool had a poor first half, being unable to break down the tough defense of Sunderland and were finally gifted a goal in the later part of the first half when Mohamed Sissoko scored from what appeared to be his first shot on target in two years at Liverpool. He fired a low shot through the legs of a Sunderland defender, and the goalkeeper Craig Gordon, who played exceptionally well that day, was unable to save it.

In the second half, Liverpool gave a slightly more convincing performance, and did not seem like they would be conceding a goal. However, the important second goal did not arrive until the later stages in the game. Against tougher sides such as Blackburn, Newcastle and Middlesbrough, Liverpool will need to kill the game off earlier if they want to win away from home. Eventually, they got the goal they wanted in the 87th minute, after good play resulted in Torres assisting his strike partner in firing a low shot past Gordon, thus wrapping up a 2-0 victory for Liverpool.

Liverpool 1-1 Chelsea

Last night, Liverpool hosted rivals Chelsea at Anfield, and in a hard-fought match that they dominated for most of it, came out with a share of the spoils as the match ended 1-1. It was an unfair result for the Reds, for Chelsea had equalized with a penalty that was beyond controversial, Rob Styles awarding it when Malouda jumped into Finnan.

The Reds started the match tenaciously, fighting for every ball and pushing forward, and got the start they deserved when Gerrard fed Torres down the left. The striker had Ben Haim to beat, and chased the ball down, stopping it before bursting forward, completing the illusion that he was going to hold the ball up and wait for other players to come in. Ben Haim could not catch up with Torres' explosive pace, and he spotted an opening at the far post, slotting the ball in with an inch-perfect shot, aimed at the far post and rebounding in off it.

However, Rob Styles gifted Chelsea with a lifeline in the second half when he awarded Malouda a penalty after the winger had jumped into Finnan. The decision was controversial, one that even Drogba protested to as he had the ball when Rob Styles stopped play, only to realise that he had awarded them a penalty. Frank Lampard stepped up and made no mistake from the penalty spot, leveling the score at 1-1.

After that unfortunate incident, Liverpool failed to get back in front, and Chelsea did not threaten either. Crouch was brought on to try and salvage a win, while Alex came on for Chelsea to fight for the draw and to counter Crouch. Eventually, the score ended 1-1, with Chelsea lucky to get a share of the points and Liverpool desperately unfortunate to have not won after Rob Styles' blunder.

Toulouse 0-1 Liverpool

In a midweek Champions League qualifying match, Liverpool traveled to Toulouse and emerged victorious in a scrappy match that saw Ukrainian striker Andriy Voronin score a wonderful goal from 25 yards, proving his worth as he had arrived at Liverpool on a free transfer, which caused some people to think that he wasn't a very good player.


However, a downside was that Steven Gerrard picked up a foot injury - later identified as a broken toe - which would cause him to be doubtful for the important Chelsea match on Sunday. Apart from that, Liverpool were firmly in the driving seat for the second leg at Anfield, on the 28th of August, and were favourites to qualify.

Aston Villa 1-2 Liverpool

After slow starts to the previous few seasons, Liverpool have finally found the flying start they need in order to be able to begin a new season strongly. Liverpool have often found themselves struggling at away ties against mid-table teams, and find it difficult to break teams that go out and defend down. However, this season, Rafa's red army showed their intent to stage a strong title challenge, and eventually ran out of Villa Park 1-2 winners. Last season, the score might have 1-0 to Aston Villa, or a draw at best.

And on Saturday night, the new season got off to a start, with hopes and expectations high. Liverpool would not disappoint. Torres, making his debut, showed some promising moves as he played a part in the first goal, forcing Aston Villa goalkeeper Taylor into making a full-length dive in order to save his shot. Dirk Kuyt, the hardworking Dutch striker ran for the ball, which appeared to be going out. He managed to pull it back, and Martin Laursen was only able to volley the ball into his own net. Harsh for it to be an own goal, but Liverpool were still up by a goal.

In the second half, Liverpool created a few more chances, but Aston Villa were the one who scored. After Carragher had accidentally handled the ball in the Liverpool penalty box, Villa were awarded a penalty, which Gareth Barry converted coolly, making the score 1-1. Taylor made a few more good saves, including a point blank one from Gerrard as well as a save from Torres' shot, and it seemed Villa were going to snatch a point from this match, and Liverpool would begin the season without a win once more.


Gerrard disagreed, the Liverpool captain stepping up to take a free kick not too far out from the penalty box. He sent a curling shot into the top corner of the net, a marvelous free kick that beat Taylor, who was in excellent form that day. However, the free kick being awarded was questioned as well, as Petrov did not seem to have fouled Gerrard. Nevertheless, the score read 2-1 to Liverpool, and the Reds would begin their season with a win.