Match Reports
LIVERPOOL 1-0 BARCELONA Liverpool recorded another great European win at Anfield to go through to their first European final since 1985! In a fast paced first half Liverpool were marginally the better side as both teams set out to win the game as soon as the first whistle was blown. Barcelona had the first shot on goal, with Rivaldo unleashing an unbelievable shot from 50 yards out, which required Westerweld to get a touch to tip the ball over. Later on, Luis Enrique was inches away with Westerweld stranded after good work on the left by Overmars. But Liverpool had more possession and almost went ahead themselves when some good work by Smicer found Owen just outside of the area, but Owen's first touch took the ball just out of his reach and Reina was quick off his line to beat the young forward to it. Then a terrific run by Gerrard saw him get into the Barcelona penalty area but after knocking the ball past a couple of defenders, Gerrard just lost his balance and the chance went away. It was in the last minute of the first half when Liverpool took the lead, and they did so through a penalty. A corner played into the area from the right hand side was met by the hand of Patrick Kluivert and the referee was quick to make the decision. Once again, the man for the big occasion was Gary McAllister and he coolly put the penalty away after Reina had committed himself early. The second half saw Barca attack Liverpool from the first whistle although a clear cut chance did not fall their way until 10 minutes into the half. A though ball was played forward towards Kluivert and Westerweld came charging out of his area and completely missed the ball when attempting to clear it forward! Fortunately for Liverpool, Kluivert had hesitated for a second and his was unable to keep the ball in play. Barcelona soon went to playing 3 at the back as they brought on Simao for Reiziger to try and get the goal that they so badly needed, but the next chance went Liverpool's way with Steve Gerrard hitting a thunderous strike that was agonisingly just wide of Reina's far post. With 15 minutes to go, Barcelona made yet another attacking substitution, bringing off the left sided Overmars, and replacing him with centre forward Dani. It meant that Barcelona were playing with 5 players up front in a desperate attempt to score as they piled the pressure on Liverpool in the last quarter of the game. But they couldn't find a way through the Liverpool defence who kept a 9th clean sheet in 12 games in the tournament. The Reds will now face Alaves in the final in Dortmund next month. Spanish side Alaves beat Kaiserslautern 4-1 on the night, to go through 9-2 on aggregate. View match pictures from this game!
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