Match Reports
Barcelona 0-0 Liverpool Liverpool returned from the Nou Camp still having never lost to Barcelona in the stadium and still having never even conceded a goal to Barcelona on their own ground. Despite some Barcelona claims that Liverpool were nothing more than a defensive side, it was in fact Liverpool who had the better of the chances in the opening half, and should perhaps have been in front. After only 2 minutes, Gerrard was unfortunate not to get a decent shot at the Barca goal, but from Riise's free kick, Gerrard seemed somewhat surprised that the ball had reached him at the far post, and despite being unmarked and with a little time to bring the ball down, Gerrard couldnt get the ball under control and it rolled wide. It was a big let off for Barcelona, but in Saviola, they had a player themselves who could cause probems, and that he did on many occasions during the match with some excellent runs round the back of the Liverpool defence. It was Saviola who was contributed to Barcelona's first chance, firstly in winning a corner from Stephane Henchoz, and then for almost giving Barcelona the lead when the resulting corner was played into the box. Motta's corner was touched on by De Boer, and from one yard out, Saviola arrived fractionally too late to get a touch which would surely have put the ball into the net. Th home side found themselves unable to take control of the match though, and Liverpool found themselves with a more chances in the first quarter of the match, with Gerrard playing a fantastic pass through the Barcelona defence, but Heskey was stretching to reach the ball for a shot, and failed to trouble Bonano. Heskey again was close to a chance soon after, but was just unable to get a foot to a cross by Carragher. Liverpool's best chance of the entire match was next though, and Gerrard was very unlucky not to have directed a glancing header into the far corner, but instead saw the ball go just the wrong side of the post from a good delivery by Murphy. Barcelona stepepd up a gear in the remainder of the half, and a delightful move involving Kluivert and Saviola should have resulted in a goal for Luis Enrique, but in trying to place his shot into the far corner of the goal from only 6 yards out, Luis Enrique put the ball wide. Saviola also came close in the final moments of the half, but in trying to curl a shot into the far corner, he found his shot blocked by Abel Xavier. The second half was almost as equal as the fist half had been, and both sides caused problems as they went looking to record a massively important win. The first shot at goal came from the visitors though, and Hamann was close to opening the scoring with a 30 yard effort which was narrowly oevr the bar. Emile Heskey also had an opportunity in the half with some good link up play from Riise, whose excellent pass down the left hand side of the pitch released Heskey, and after storming his way into the area, Heskey just ran out of space in which to get a shot in, and in trying a little chip over the keeper, Bonano was close enough to the shot to make a save. As in the first half though, Barcelona improved as the half went on, and were the better of the sides for the final 20 minutes or so. Rivaldo was inches away from the top corner with a fierce strike from over 35 yards out, and Puyol fired staright at Dudek after a build up which involved over two dozen passes. Christanval later hit the post with a header across goal, and Saviola showed brilliant skill to beat Henchoz but dragged his shot wide of the far post. Milan Baros, Nick Barmby and Vladimir Smicer were brought on late in the second half and Baros was the man with Liverpool's last chance of the half, but in running across the Barca penalty area, he delayed taking his shot and eventually had to settle for winning a corner as his final shot from a narrow angle was blocked. It was a fair result overall, and was evidence on how far Liverpool have come since their last visit to the Nou Camp, when they were unable to cause Barca many problems frmo an attacking point of view. The result leaves Liverpool with the task of beating Roma by 2 goals at Anfield next week, although a 1 goal win will be sufficient if Barcelona and Galatasaray do not draw. View exclusive photographs from this match!
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