Last night’s second leg ties in the UEFA Champions League quarter-finals were both regarded as being pretty much all over before they started. Tonight we will see Porto and Manchester United and Arsenal and Villarreal going into their games all square after the first leg, but that was a long way from being the case last night.
Despite the unenviable position Bayern and Liverpool faced before the games, one of the two came close to providing one of the biggest ever shocks in one of the best games the competition has seen in years.
Confident
In Munich, Bayern were looking to overturn a 4-0 defeat in Barcelona last week. I say that they were looking to overturn it but their manager Jurgen Klinsmann wasn’t too confident about that before the game.
“We are not going to beat them by four goals, we are aware of that. But we will play with pride and character and we will give our fans a good Champions League game. We are all but out in the Champions League but we want to give our fans a good game and win if possible. Barcelona is the best team in the world and to play such teams again we need to win the title.”
What happened to, “We’ll give it our best and if we can force an early goal, you never know what might happen.�!
Bayern welcomed Philip Lahm back into their team after missing him terribly at the Camp Nou and Barcelona were without the suspended Marquez. Also, of course, manager Pep Guardiola had to watch from the stands after his ludicrous sending off in the first game.
So, was it a foregone conclusion or did Bayern Munich surprise everyone including their own manager?
Well, it was pretty much a foregone conclusion. Toni and Ribery went close in the first few minutes but the early goal that Bayern needed in order to have any chance at all wouldn’t come.
Slightest glimmer
Eventually, after half-time, Bayern did take the lead when Ribery scored against the team he may well be playing for in this competition next season. It was nothing more than the slightest glimmer of hope and Barcelona ended any remote chance of an upset when Keita finished a seventeen pass move to bring them level on the night.
That was the end of the scoring. A 5-1 aggregate win over Bayern Munich tells you all you need to know about this Barcelona side. They are going to take some stopping.
Chelsea
In London, Liverpool travelled to Chelsea to see if they could overcome the 3-1 defeat suffered at Anfield last week.
Liverpool boss Rafa Benitez was far more upbeat than Klinsmann and he sounded a rallying cry before the game, citing Liverpool’s amazing Champions League comeback against Milan in Istanbul a couple of years ago.
“The experience of Istanbul will help us – it shows you can come back from a big score – and we have already won at Stamford Bridge this season. We ended their long unbeaten home record and that is a massive boost to our confidence. We can do it if we work together and score an early goal. If we score a second they will be under real pressure and you can score three goals in eight minutes like Bolton did on Saturday. We know that we can score goals away against the top sides and although it will be very difficult to exploit Chelsea’s weaknesses, we know they can make mistakes. But this is a Champions League game and we don’t need to talk too much about motivation.”
Benitez was going to take the calculated gamble of playing Steve Gerrard despite the fact that he was not totally fit after suffering a groin problem. The manager knew that with Gerrard on board they had little chance, but without him, even that little chance would have disappeared.
As it turned out, he didn’y risk him and he left Riera, Babel and Ngog on the bench. What was he thinking?
So, was Benitez right to be looking on the bright side prior to the game?
Privilege
What transpired at Stamford Bridge was memorable to everyone who had the privilege to see the game.
Liverpool needed an early goal and on nineteen minutes, Aurelio struck an inventive free-kick in at the near post with Petr Cech expecting a cross.
Was the impossible possible? Well it certainly was nine minutes later when Ivanavic wrestled Alonso to the floor in the penalty area and the Spaniard got up to despatch the penalty and level the scores on aggregate.
Ascendency
Half-time came with Chelsea still in pole position because of their away goals but with Liverpool very much in the ascendency.
Seven minutes into the second half Chelsea nerves were eased when Drogba got the slightest of touches on an Anelka cross and Reina fumbled the ball over his own line. At 1-2, Liverpool still only needed one goal to take it to extra-time, but Chelsea were back.
Five minutes later Alex thundered home a free-kick and at 2-2 on the night, 5-3 on aggregate, Chelsea were safe. Weren’t they?
All over
When Frank Lampard fired home from close range after great work by Drogba in the 76th minute it was all over at 6-3 on aggregate.
In fact, when a Lucas shot was deflected in off Essien five minutes later to reduce the deficit to 4-6, it hardly registered.
Suddenly
However, a minute later, substitute Riera crossed for Kuyt to head home and Liverpool were suddenly 4-3 up on the night and one goal away from qualifying on away goals.
A quite remarkable game was finally settled in the 89th minute when Frank Lampard fired home his second and made the score 4-4 on the night and 7-5 to Chelsea over all.
It was a tremendous effort by Benitez and his men but all credit to Chelsea for fighting back.
Battles
There have been some wonderful battles between Chelsea and Barcelona over the past few years and now we have the prospect of two more.
It will be a great semi-final but you can’t help feeling that should Chelsea be as generous to Barcelona as they were to Liverpool, then the English team could be in trouble.
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