Valencia 2-0 Liverpool
Liverpool crashed to defeat in their first Champions League game on Tuesday, as the Spanish Champions recorded a comfortable win.
With a lot of talk before the game concentrationg on Liverpool's front two, and whether it would be Baros or Owen to start the game, it came as a surprise to many that both players were on the bench. Hanchoz had also failed to make it back in time and Salif Diao again stood in for the Swiss defender.
Valencia began the game in lively fashion, forcing a corner within the opening 15 seconds of the game, and the sight of the Spaniards in the last third of the pitch was to be a common sight throughout the first half.
It took until the 19th minute before the first goal arrived though.
The move started with some good work by Torres on the right side of the field, and after playing a pass into the centre of the pitch to Albeda, and a wonderful passing movement followed involving Pablo Aimar and Baraja, which concluded with Aimar stroking the ball low into the far corner of the net.
There was little that even a full strength Liverpool defence could have done against such a brilliantly crafted attack, and Valencia finally had some reward for all of their early domination.
Another ten minutes passed before the Reds managed to get themselves a decent chance, and Emile Heskey was unlucky not to have scored. Heskey picked up the ball just inside the 18 yard area and with Ayala and the goalkeeper, Canizares, looking to take the ball off him, Heskey cooly rounded the 'keeper but the angle was just against him and he saw the shot bounce off the near post and roll across the face of the goal.
Valencia extended their advantage before the break, after Baraja had recieved a pass to take him behind the Liverpool midfield, and with defenders backing off and he ran towards goal, Baraja unleashed a a shot from 25 yards which swerved away from Dudek and landed just inside the post of the Liverpool goal to double the score with 7 minutes of the half remaining.
Even with 10-12,000 empty seats in the Mestalla, the noise level, which had been loud during the whole of the first half, somehow rose again, with the home fans celebrating what was surely a goal which had given their team a lead that surely they were to hang onto.
Michael Owen and Bruno Cheyrou entered the action at half time, with the Senegal duo of Diao and Diouf being replaced.
Shortly after the interval, Pablo Aimar was close to adding to Valencia's lead, but a 30 yard drive the Argentine was spectacularly tipped over the bar by Dudek.
A volley from the edge of the area by Murphy was straight at Canizares a couple of minutes later, and a free kick from 35 yards out by Riise was blocked in the area as Liverpool desperately searched for a way back into the game, but with little luck.
The Reds' best chance came on 64 minutes, and only an excellent save by Canizares from a close range shot by Cheyrou prevented Liverpool from grabbing a goal back and giving themselves a chance of stealing a point from the match.
And within five minutes later, Ruben Baraja almost scored at the other end, but a flying one handed save by Dudek saw the ball over the bar.
The last change for Houllier was to bring on Milan Baros for the final 15 minutes, with Danny Murphy leaving the field, but just a minute after Liverpool's final substitution, Dietmar Hamann was given his marching orders by the German referee, following a tangle with Mista. As with Hamann's first booking, it seemed a harsh decision to bring out the yellow card, but in the end the referee gave in the the pressure put on him by the booing and whistling of 40,000 Valencia fans and Liverpool's task of recovering a point fromt he game now seemed impossible.
A header by Carew in the 89th minute was the game's only chance of note in the last ten minutes, with Valencia seemingly satisfied with their evening's work, and with a coninued run of a similar quality of football, the Spaniards will be strong contenders to make a third appearance in the final in four years.
The same cannot be said of Liverpool tough, unless a big improvement can be made from a performance which saw them well beaten in the end.
In the other Group B game, Basel were 2-0 winners at home to Spartak Moscow, to go joint top with Valencia. The second round of fixtures takes place next Wednesday.
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