13: Luis Garcia vs Bordeaux

A sweet, sweet volley from a difficult angle and the ball reached Garcia at a rather awkward position but just like any flair players, executed it without fuss.

Simple things like pass and move he might not excel, it's stuff like this that makes people goes jaw-dropped. Looking forward to next season when we'll see Little Luis again!(hopefully)

Rafa 'Sticks Three Up' The Critics As Reds Advance To The Last 16

UEFA Champions League Group C

LIVERPOOL 3 - 0 Bordeaux

Scorers:
LIV - Luis Garcia (23min, 76min), Gerrard (71min)

(Stevie breaking his scoring duck)

1-0 Luis Garcia; 23min:




2-0 Gerrard; 71min:




3-0 Luis Garcia; 76min:

Liverpool became the first British team to advance into the Champions League knock-out round after they cruised past French side Bordeaux at Anfield last night. Following the magnificent 3-1 win over Aston Villa over the weekends, Rafael Benitez surprised everyone including me, by naming a totally unchanged side. It was such a brilliant move that you could point out that this single move could equate to 'one stone killing three birds'.

Firstly, this plan to name a unchanged side must have taken the national printing press and tabloids aback. I'm very sure that even before the game had begun, they have already prepared a '100 GAMES WITHOUT A SETTLED SIDE' headline that is ready to be placed once the game is finished. This move must have made them feel silly and to shut those people up. They have banged on how Rafa constantly changing the squad without looking from another perspective and these lazy journalist have been found out by a wonderfully foiled plan.

Next, a egg on face situation for the just departed Noel White. If you're not aware, this man is the board member who went to the press and spout a whole lot of bollocks. He claimed Rafa 'spent too much money on limited players' and 'doesn't know what his best team is'. So by naming an unchanged side, Rafa is effectively sending a word that 'hey dude, I know what I'm doing and I know what my best team is'. Oh by the way, he had resigned from the Liverpool board and this obnoxious man will no longer be part of the Reds.

Finally, after so much talk of us being a better team than last season, there is no stronger evidence to that statement than last night's performance. It wasn't as pretty as the one we had against Aston Villa, but it was effective and again, we did played some fantastic football at times.

(Gerrard celebrating with Kuyt)

I was most pleased to see Steven Gerrard finally getting on the scoresheet. He has been really unlucky so far this season with a few close shaves and many other which have hit the framework of the goal. The captain of Liverpool, who's last goal was against West Ham in that dramatic FA Cup final was again presented with several chances throughout the matches and when everyone thought that it was just not his day, he ran clear of the Bordeaux defence and place the ball past Ulrich Reme. It wasn't the best of finish, but with a huge sigh of relieve, the ball went in and the Kop roared as the captain punched the air with delight.

And of course his contribution was much more than just a goal. His cross from the right found Luis Garcia at the backpost and the enigmatic Spaniard smashes the ball past Reme for Liverpool's first goal. It was a well worked move with Dirk Kuyt heavily involved.

People have again and again doubted Gerrard's ability to play as a right winger and once again, he and Rafa made those people eat humble pie. His ability to drift inwards and influence the game was for all to see and thoe powerful marauding runs he made terrified the Bordeaux defence. Not only did he excelled there last night, but later he played as a support striker behind Kuyt and also as a central holding midfielder in which he sprays ball around just like what Alonso always did.

Luis Garcia topped the icing on the cake with a brilliant steal and a composed finish. The Spanish striker who has been criticised lately started to find some feet last week, scoring against Aston Villa and last night, he showed us why he's fit to wear the red shirt. His 10th goal in 17 Champions League game tells us how important he is to Liverpool and he will now pose serious threat to Gonzalez/Aurelio/Kewell's place on the left.

(Markus Merk sent Fernando off)

But game was marred with an ugly incident which saw Bordeuax midfielder, Fernando sent off. In a heat of matter, he headbutted John Arne Riise and was spotted by the TV crew. Replay showed he did make some contact with Riise, who was hurt on his forehead.

(Riise's sweat and bleeds for Liverpool)

That sending off completely washed out the Bordeaux team as they faded out and lost the fighting spirit. After being on the back foot for majority of the first half, they came out for the second half stronger and nearly equalised on several occasions. But other than the one on one with Reina, they didn't really threaten much other than trying their luck from long range. The defence consisting of Hyypia and Carragher made some vital blocks and interceptions and their performance seemed to have improved tremendously.

A great win for the Reds as we marched into the last 16 of the Champions League and not only the victory was sweet, revenge and justice for Rafa was done as well, in a single night. The night we shut the critics up. The night we proved them wrong. The night we surprised everyone and got the result in the end. Brilliant move Rafa, I'm looking forward to the next match already.

CREDITS TO GETTYIMAGES FOR THE PHOTOS.

Crouchy's Goal

Reds Hung On For Win

UEFA Champions League

Bordeaux 0 - 1 LIVERPOOL

Scorer:
LIV - Crouch (56min);

It was scrappy and it wasn't pretty at all. But Liverpool maintained their unbeaten start in Champions League group C with a 1-0 win over French side Bordeaux. Peter Crouch scored from a Craig Bellamy corner to give Liverpool side a much needed boost and hopefully he can carry on his good scoring records against ManYoo this Sunday at Old Trafford. The defence kept a clean sheet as well, albeit a few nervous moments near the end.

After a disappointing start to the season, Liverpool came into the game like a car with punctured tires. Struggling to kick into any sort of rythmn or form, the Reds struggled on the domestic front and a win in France was a much needed one. We had a poor record playing in France and it's most definitely a concern for Rafa Benitez as he set out a team which was without Steven Gerrard, who had a minor hamstring problem.

The game started off well and with good tempo. But as Bordeaux drew energy from their home support, Liverpool were forced deep into their own half and were forced to play counter-attacking football. But surely Rafa forseen it and the inclusion of Mark Gonzalez proved so. His pace and energy was needed to break down the Bordeaux defence which left spaces behind for the speedy players to exploit.

Craig Bellamy nearly put Liverpool one up but his indecision costed a wonderful chance. That was about it for Bellamy in the first half as he was isolated up front with Crouch operating very deep and never really provided any support for the Welshman.

Although Liverpool were pinned back most of the time and Bordeaux having a lion share of possesion, they seldom threaten Reina's goal. But they did manage to put in a few decent set pieces and Liverpool were nearly punished on two occasions.

Peter Crouch's third Champions League goal came as a surprise as the chances Liverpool had were scarce and didn't force Ulrich Ramé into any sort of saves. Bellamy's corner was headed in from Crouch, who had Hyypia doing a smokescreen right in front of him and all he needed to do was to place it beyond the 'keeper's grasp.


The tempo did picked up a little after the goal, but Liverpool were unable to capitalise with the panic in the Bordeaux team. Soon the rythmn dropped off and the Reds were again pinned back and have to do a lot of defending. They conceded far too many free kicks at the edge of the area and were giving the Liverpool fans a hard time watching.

Near the end, homegrown Liverpool player, Stephen Warnock nearly doubled the scoreline with a wonderful run into the penalty box. But his finishing was poor and placed the shot straight at the 'keeper. He did so well until the finish to be exact.

It wasn't a good performance from the Reds, but the Liverpool fans surely can't complain much after a rather disappointing weekend. It's understandable that they got pinned back due to the nature of playing an away game and hitting them on the counter-attack was the initial plan. The loss of Steven Gerrard didn't help as Zenden was playing in the central role with minimal impact.

The positives points are there to be taken note of especially Sami Hyypia rising to the occasion. He has been criticized previously as 'pass his sell out date' but he showed us tonight that he still has something to offer to the club. His form had been patchy at best but he was strong tonight and did no wrong.

A clean sheet will be an encouraging one as Liverpool seeked to gain momentum and will look to build on this vital win in France. But first, they must overcome ManYoo this Sunday and we all know how difficult that match will be. The performance isn't convincing enough to suggest we will be able to beat them. But who knows, this is football and everything is possible. That's at least what Liverpool fan can hope and pray for.