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Classic Spectacle in CL return…

April 14th, 2009 | By: Jan | 16 Comments »

Is it me, or does Liverpool always feature in classic CL-matches…?

As I already wrote in my preview, getting back from 1-3 down in 90 minutes away from home is not that big an ask for the Reds. They have the fighting spirit, the pace, the opportunism and the balls to do it. As they did against some club some time back… It only took them 45 minutes then…

Hiddink saw that threat too and after the 4-3 against Bolton he was keen to warn his lads for the Liverpudlian Tempest.

Gerrard and Riera didn’t start, which must have seemed a disadvantage for Liverpool. But it took me quite some time to realize Gerrard didn’t play ( I started watching 10 minutes into the game due to “get-out-of-bed-at-4.30-blues”). Torres had the 1-0 on his boot in the first 15 minutes but instead of a Bergkamp he did a Kieft and hit the ball into the stands. It would take a great goal to open the account and that’s what Liverpool got. A free kick. Cech expected a cross (didn’t we all??) but Aurelia decided to go for the near post and bamboozled everyone: 0-1. Not much later, the ref saw an infringement in the box against Alonso and awarded Liverpool with a penalty. It was Penalty kick 101 by Xavi Alonso: 0-2. With more than an hour to go… So… You think… And there were more opps for Liverpool, like Kuyt’s lobbie-header (new English word introduced by yours truly), but Cech was wide awake by now and stopped the ball.

After the break a different Chelsea appeared on the pitch. Hiddink had noticed how his team tracked back too much and seemed to avoid dueling. The changes Guud made paid off with two quick goals in the second half. A sweet little flick by Drogba on an Anelka low cross was enough for the 1-2 and Brazilian Oak Alex hit a free kick home from 25 meters or more: 2-2. It seemed all over at that stage. At 1-2, Liverpool could still reach the penalty shoot out, but with 2-2… Lampard scored the 3-2 and it was truly game over. Or so everyone thought… But the Reds didn’t let up. Lucas scored the 3-3 ( I think, my memory is getting fuzzy now…) and Dirkie scored the 3-4 affter a good Riera cross. With only 10 minutes to go, Liverpool needed one more goal to do the inconcievable. Babel was brought on and I actually saw Babel scoring the winner in my crystal ball. But “Guus Geluk” did it again. Or better, Lampard did. He scored the 4-4 in the dying minutes and it was definitely game over.

The Reds were devastated. Chelski celebrated. And Hiddink and Benitez exchanged some unpleasantries.

Hiddink: “Oh, Benitez thought the ref had let them down. I don’t know. When you lose 1-0 you can blame the ref, but the 4-4 wasn’t the ref’s fault. I am proud of my boys. I knew it would be a tough challenge. We all know what Liverpool can do. They put us to the test and in the first half we were too much in awe. I didn’t yell at the lads in the break. Didn’t have to. They know exactly what went wrong, they’re big boys. We pressured them more in the second half and when we started scoring I felt we were on top again. But you’ve never beaten them until the game is actually over and now we can look forward to the next battle.”

Tags: Alex, Babel, Ballack, Group C, Hiddink, Kuyt, Lampard, Torres

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Comments

By bobotoh | April 14th, 2009 at 8:19 pm

Guus must be worried about Chelsea defence, 7 goals in two games. Who is Chelse’s next opponent? Barca?

Posted from Indonesia

By Peter vdL | April 14th, 2009 at 9:18 pm

who cares if you let in 7 if you can score 11 =)
btw, liverpools 1st two goals were hardly ‘defensive errors’
I realise that Ivanovics tackle was illegal but such penalties rarely get called. Luca’s goal also was hardly a defensive blunder. When terry’s back they’ll be strong. Barca too don’t have the best defense in europe anyway.

By Jan | April 14th, 2009 at 10:08 pm

Petr Cech didn’t look too good at 1-0 though… I think the man is on his way out. Pepe didn’t look to flash at Chelsea’s first goal. Man, what a match. You can’t have excitement without mistakes.

By Mario | April 14th, 2009 at 11:47 pm

Hiddink is the best coach in the world, there is no doubt about that. He has had an impact everywhere he has gone and now he showed it again in the Champions League versus such a strong Liverpool team. He can win the tournament, Barcelona will be a very tough team to play but Hiddink has so much more experiencie than Guardiola and that can be an important key for the semifinals.

By Tiju | April 15th, 2009 at 2:15 am

I have already told that hiddink is MrSEMIFINALIST.So i cannt see chelsea beating Barca.Not only because of barca strength but also THE SEMIFACTOR OF hiddink.
tonight we can see a mouthwatering clash btw Manu and porto.Arsenal is playing without Djoru,Gallas,Clichy and almunia.Huge gap i can see in the back of arsenal but they are capable of scoring goals.Actually i want Manu to win but now my heart is with arsenal and for the sake of Arsenal i hope porto will win.
@finni cheer up man,This is football liverpool lost to Semifactor of hiddink otherwise they would have been there to face Barca.

Posted from India

By ferenc | April 15th, 2009 at 2:42 am

i don’t like hiddink at all – we have our artist coaches like rinus,johan,frank and we have always calculating coaches like guus. these latter always try to exploit at maximum the mistakes of their opponents. he’s a great coach but has never ever been an artist. really hope that johan’s disciple pep guardiola will give him a lesson of ultramodern football. and hope as well that petr czech will keep this form in the next 3-4 weeks;-) chelsea’s defence looks very very vulnerable. against messi,eto’o,henry and iniesta,xavi+dany alves this production won’t be enough. i obviously supported liverpool but from a barca pow hiddink’s team is the better opponent.

Posted from Hungary

By Jan | April 15th, 2009 at 2:48 am

I actually agree with Ferenc on all counts. I do like Hiddink, he’s a cool dude, but he’s not a great tactician as people like to say. He’s a great motivator and people manager and he picks the right jobs. No way he’ll stay at Chelsea, because next season he can only fail and he knows that. Shrewd operator, our Guus…

By Carlos | April 15th, 2009 at 3:29 am

Back to Petr Cech, had a long discussion with some friends before the game and we all feel the same way about him. Just not the same since his accident. That split second quicker than the attacker, the reflexes etc.
It’s just not there anymore. Before that it would have been priceless to get ONE goal past him. How does everyone feel about him ? Oh also agree with Ferenc on Guus! Very calculative but a very smart cookie too.

Posted from Singapore

By Jan | April 15th, 2009 at 3:37 am

I agree with Carlos. Darn it! I keep on agreeing with everyone. That’s not good. Bloggers 101 is to create carnage and disagree with all!

I think Cech is the beesknees! I don’t agree with Carlos. Nor with his mates.

By Carlos | April 15th, 2009 at 3:52 am

Jan, actually I agree that Cech WAS the Beesknees ! In fact better than Buffon and Sar…..but not anymore and by the way Sar has been nominated for PFA player of the year !! When was the last time a keeper was nominated ? Cech ????

Posted from Singapore

By bobotoh | April 15th, 2009 at 4:17 am

I think the greatest tactician is Fabio Capelo.

Posted from Indonesia

By Tiju | April 15th, 2009 at 4:27 am

What an anlysis from Jan and carlos,this is too bad man(Hiddinski is ours) even though Both of you may be right.if hiddink stays next year offcourse he will get the premirship with such a rich owner.Coz premeier league need more consistancy,so hiddinski brings that.But champions league will be a gamble.
Guus picks the right team for every matches and substitutions are superb.And he gives lots of respect to the best danagerous opposite players,like ARIER ORTEGA-WIM JONK,GERRAD-ESSIEN ETC.so the opposite team will strugle thats obvious.Acutally he controls every thing but players dont feel that they are heavily controlled.thats GUUS Magic

Posted from India

By Jan | April 15th, 2009 at 6:00 am

True Tiju. Well said, but as we pointed out, he’s not as innovative as JC, Van Gaal, Adriaanse or Sacchi, to name a few. But I highly respect the man.

By Miguel Rosado | April 15th, 2009 at 10:07 pm

Hiddink has been successful with PSV, South Korea, Australia, Russia and now Chelsea. But he is not a good tactician!!!.

By Jan | April 16th, 2009 at 3:20 am

No, he’s ok… But he is not as good as the ones mentioned. He doesn’t re-invent the game. He knows how to motivate players, how to position them well and organize them and make them play 10% better than any other coach on the basis of mental coaching. But in terms of creative tactical solutions…nah… PSV won the Cup with defensive football and lots of lucky 0-0s and 1-1s. Korea got some help from the refs at that WC. Oranje was a bunch of tremendous players in 1998 and Australia…well…they had quality, typical Aussie fighting spirit and momentum. But I can’t see Guus as the clever tactician… I’m sorry…

By ferenc | April 17th, 2009 at 5:38 pm

Mario: how could you say that hiddink is the best coach of the world? i would say for ex. lippi is better – just have a look at his results and the way juve played in the late 90s. and he’s not the only one active coach who’s at least at hiddink’s level. and please,do not mention the world cup 2002 because the results of south corea were simply scandalous (portugal,italy,spain) – i remember the semi final because it was the only one game in my life when i supported germany:-) at this wc the results for south corea were guaranteed. i do not say that he’s not a great coach but there is some differences between being great and being the best. he’s certainly one of the 10 best active coaches in the world. as Jan wrote down his psv side in 87/88 didn’t play too spectacular games,they even won the final with penalties against benfica. he’s a great psychologist and knows perfectly how to exploit the weaknesses of the opposite side. but – at least for me – rinus,sacchi and johan remain the etalons. and really,really hope that pep guardiola will beat him.

Posted from Hungary

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