Leverkusan vs Liverpool

mayordenis

Ok just a note on the rte pundits again. . .

at the first legs of this round they said they could see all the teams winning except liverpool, all the other teams lost we were the only winners.
Last night Dunphy said If he had to put his house on something it would for leverkusen to go through, stupid homeless bastard.
And then after the match during the praiseathon i believe they basically said we still dont have much hope of getting into the last 4.

sleepwalker

just a quick note to liverpool fans

dont underestimate bayern munich like too many of us arsenal fans did they will be just as tough as anyone else in the last 8 especially if they have both ballack and makayy fit and dont underestimate lyon just bloody pray that you get psv

RE*AC*TOR

as long as they keep backing the opposition - we have a chance

mayordenis

sleepwalker wrote:

dont underestimate bayern munich like too many of us arsenal fans did they will be just as tough as anyone else in the last 8 especially if they have both ballack and makayy fit and dont underestimate lyon just bloody pray that you get psv

meh would take bayern before milan anyway,
they are a quality side but then again any schmo can beat arsenal :P
Lyon played a very poor bremen team and diarra is ours so we'll just take him back.
PSV would be nice i suppose would really expect us to get into the last 4 if we drew them.
i'd also expect us to beat either of inter or porto, neither of them really have that cutting edge(liverpool only have at times)
Juve would more than likely beat us but im always optimistic.
And i actually think we could have a good go at milan because we would be playing as out and out underdogs and would have the freedom to just play.

RE*AC*TOR wrote:

as long as they keep backing the opposition - we have a chance

Yes thats it, come on Dunphy next time bet your nationality on liverpool losing. this way liverpool win, and dunphy can stop being something shameful for all the irish.

PiE

mayordenis wrote:

:words:

You're crazy son. I'm certain that Milan, Juve and Inter would all easily outclass Liverpool. It wouldn't be huge scorelines, but they'd dominate all over the pitch. As for Inter not having a cutting edge? They may have drawn more games than any other team in Europe this season, (a whopping 16 out of 27 in Serie A) but they were unbeaten until a fortnight ago and are the highest scorers in Serie A. In Adriano and Martins they have two of the best young strikers in the world, not to mention Vieri.

Having said that; Hurrah.

uberwolf

mayordenis wrote:

Lyon played a very poor bremen team and diarra is ours so we'll just take him back.

he mightened be allowed play against us anyway under either loan agreement or UEFA rules? Could someone clarify this?

I would expect any of the italian teams to progress if they drew us. But from what I've seen of them they wouldn't rip us apart like maybe you'd fear Real could do - so if they weren't watching themselves they could slip up.

Roy keane beat Juve in '99, gerrard could do the same in '05

super_furry

That's not the same Diarra, ours is on loan to Lens.

Ardent

mayordenis wrote:

Ok just a note on the rte pundits again. . .

at the first legs of this round they said they could see all the teams winning except liverpool, all the other teams lost we were the only winners.
Last night Dunphy said If he had to put his house on something it would for leverkusen to go through, stupid homeless bastard.
And then after the match during the praiseathon i believe they basically said we still dont have much hope of getting into the last 4.

Ah, I take everything they say with the scorn it deserves anyway. I think they're great entertainment though, Dunphy is a parody of himself.

I watched some of the highlights briefly on Sky Sports 2 last night. Richard Keys was in the studio with David Platt, Karl Heinz Riedle and Gary McAllister. They were discussing the highlights of one of the games:

RK: That was a great finish wasn't it.
KHR: Yes, that's wonderful technique.
DP: Mmmmmmmm
GMc: Yes, good finish...

*flick*
Back to Dunphy & co...

Drag00n79

eyerer wrote:

not to pick on you, but this kinda shows how useless stats and such can be

Hindsight has 20/20 vision eyerer. Delighted with result of course!

ButcherOfNog

great performance, great result. lets not get carried away tho, we'd need a few massive slices of luck to reach the final never mind win it. If we can play like that tho we shouldn't show ourselves up.

BolBill

super_furry wrote:

That's not the same Diarra, ours is on loan to Lens.

No ours is the sh*t one playing somewhere else.

mike65

opr wrote:

Don't want to be negative but Gearad shows up and so do liverpool. When he plays well so do the team. Will this continue in the premier league ?

Gerrard was playing in the games against Brum and Newcastle and was crap in both, he missed the first leg against Bayer and Liverpool were at least as good as last night.

Gerrard is not God (honest!)

Mike.

eyerer

BolBill wrote:

No ours is the sh*t one playing somewhere else.

yeah, in any case, if you're wondering which one belongs to liverpool...its the **** one

Shamrok wrote:

Hindsight has 20/20 vision eyerer. Delighted with result of course!

im not trying to be a smart arse, im just saying quoting stats as if they have any meaning is pretty pointless
anyway, im gonna leave it at that...no arguements for me


as for gerrard, i wont cry if he leaves in summer
if he goes to chelsea i will 'hate' him though

Chucky the tree

Raskolnikov wrote:

I don't know why people here rate Spanish football so highly. Just look at Deportivo and Real Madrid, they both flopped in Europe this season. As for Barcelona? They've got a truly world class player in Ronaldinho, quality players in Eto'o, Beletti, Puyol and most of the rest about average.

The Italians have the real quality, La Liga and the Premier League are about level.

Real madrid flopped?! they got beaten by Juve in extra time, hardly a flop. They just got unlucky with one of the hardest draws. So did barca.

Deco and Xavi are class aswell.

eirebhoy

Don't know if this has been mentioned already:

Liverpool manager Rafa Benitez caused a furore in Cologne, Germany on Tuesday night when he stopped off at Jameson’s Distillery Pub to take a tipple and watch live coverage of that evening’s Champions League action!

Benitez and his assistant Pako Ayesteran took a break from their preparations for Wednesday night’s big clash with Bayer Leverkusen to drop into Cologne’s Irish pub for the live television coverage.

The pub was full to the gills with Liverpool supporters who had made the journey for the game at the BayArena, and Benitez mixed with the fans to watch the Chelsea-Barcelona game from Stamford Bridge.

The incident is sure to bring about a further increase in the Spaniard’s undoubted popularity – his pub sojourn is certainly a far cry from the haunting era of Gerard Houllier, the legacy of which he is trying valiantly to lift from England’s once-dominant club.

mike65

his pub sojourn is certainly a far cry from the haunting era of Gerard Houllier, the legacy of which he is trying valiantly to lift from England’s once-dominant club.

Flips sake! I wish ppl were'nt so quick to re-write recent history. I dont recall the vultures circling overhead for much of Geds reign, in fact I think we all quite liked 2001 esp! And yes I was glad to see him gone but it was'nt ALL bad.

Nice move by Rafa all the same!

Mike.

The Rooster

Thats right mike. If he had retired after his heart problems he would have gone down as one of the better managers in the club's history!!! Now he'll go do as one of the worst, which wouldnt be totally undeserved when you look at all the money he spent.

ButcherOfNog

Houllier had a couple of good seasons, won a decent number of trophies and came close in the premiership, after his health troubles tho it all went downhill. Mikes right tho, it was only the last season and a half that was poor.

mike65

jesus_thats_gre wrote:

I have to admit, it would be hilarious if the pool did win and competition and it meant that Everton did not qualify for the compeition next year.. Talk about a kick in the sack but a total classic.

Speaking of which

from bbc today

Uefa has told Everton again they could miss out on a Champions League spot if Liverpool win this season's trophy.

Winning this season's competition would not automatically qualify the Reds for next term, if they finish outside the Premiership's top four.

Instead the Football Association could nominate them - and that would leave the fourth-placed side in the Uefa Cup.

It was reported on Friday that England could have five Champions League places, but Uefa has now denied this.

A Uefa spokesman told BBC Sport: "One country cannot have more than four places - it would be up to the FA to make the request for Liverpool."

Uefa's website includes the Champions League regulations, and rule 1.3 states: "At the request of the national association concerned, the Uefa Champions League title-holders may be entered for this competition ... if they have not qualified via the top domestic league championship.

"If, in such a case, the title-holders come from an association entitled to enter four teams for the Uefa Champions League, the fourth-placed club in the top domestic league championship has to be entered for the Uefa Cup."

That would mean heartache for Everton, who are currently in fourth place, eight points ahead of their Merseyside rivals Liverpool.

Mike.

mike65

http://www.redandwhitekop.com/images/rafabar/rafabar3.png

http://www.redandwhitekop.com/images/rafabar/rafabar3.png

http://www.redandwhitekop.com/images/rafabar/rafabar1.png

Mike.

The Insider

Great article here on Rafa's trip down the pub..

"Rafael Benitez has spoken for the first time about the now legendary night he spent in a German bar with 200 or so Liverpudlians and described it as a 'fantastic experience'.
The Liverpool boss stunned a pub load of travelling Reds when he popped into Jameson's Irish bar in Cologne city centre the night before the Champions tie against Bayer Leverkusen on Wednesday.

Together with Pako Ayesteran and Alex Miller he left the team hotel with the intention of finding somewhere quiet to watch the second half of the Chelsea v Barcelona game.

But for once he misjudged the situation.

What followed has already passed into folklore, with every Liverpool fan under the sun now claiming to have been there when 'Rafa went the pub to see the lads'.

"It was fantastic. We went out to see the second part of the Chelsea game but we only ended up seeing our supporters," Benitez told Liverpoolfc.tv in an exclusive interview at Melwood today.

"The atmosphere was amazing and we could really feel it. Normally we only see or hear them in the stands so it was fantastic to meet them close up.

"I was not expecting there to be so many Liverpool fans in Germany. Just before going into the Irish bar we thought there might be some fans in there but not that many!

"We tried to sneak in without anyone noticing and I said to the first fan 'ssshhhhh be quiet', but next thing the whole place erupted and everyone was singing 'Rafa-Rafa-Benitez'.

"I stayed for about 50 minutes but it was impossible to watch the game after that. All the fans gathered around me, singing, shaking my hand and taking photographs with their mobile telephones. I told them to forget about me and watch the game but it was impossible.

"The singing continued all the time I was there. It was great. The fans of this club are totally different to those in Spain. In my third year at Valencia the fans began to sing but here they have been singing since I arrived. They are always singing. And to experience it at close hand in the pub was just fantastic."

So will a tripto the pub now be part of Rafa's regular pre-match routine, especially as it was followed by a memorable win on the pitch?

"Oh no," he laughs. "Normally we will be in the hotel concentrating. It was only because there were important games on the TV and we couldn't watch them in the hotel."

The high esteem in which Benitez is held by the Liverpool fans has certainly reached new heights following the midweek trip to Cologne.

But his soaring popularity was best illustrated prior to the Carling Cup Final in Cardiff when a group of supporters paraded through the streets holding a giant framed picture of the 'Rafa-tollah'.

"Yes, I have seen the pictures," he says with a beaming smile across his face. "I must say I was both surprised and impressed.

"It is not normal in Spain, maybe Iran but not Spain! It's a kudos thing and for me as a manager it was fantastic to see the fans showing their support for me in such a way.

"It was just a pity we couldn't have won the final for these supporters and all of our other supporters but I can assure them that we are doing all we can to give them some trophies to celebrate in the future."

uberwolf

according to koptalk Alonso should be back for the second leg of the 1/4 final. Which would be nice

Sherifu

The Insider wrote:

...a group of supporters paraded through the streets holding a giant framed picture of the 'Rafa-tollah'.

I had to google it
http://www.liverpoolfc.tv/images4/270205-rafa_300_01.jpg