Liverpool 1-1 Chelsea (Liverpool wins 4-1 on penalties)

Both teams came out into an Anfield that was roaring in unison befitting a match of this stature. Surprising team selection made once again by Rafa Benitez. Jose Mourinho’s team is much more predictable. Here was how the two teams lined up

Chelsea
Cech
Ferreira Essien Terry A.Cole
Makelele
J.Cole Lampard Mikel Kalou
Drogba

Chelsea started with a 4-5-1 formation with Joe Cole and Salomon Kalou working as the wide men. This is a possible 4-3-3 when Chelsea attack.

Liverpool surprised both 18YB and the pundits at the studio with their first eleven. Two wide men were used in Zenden and Pennant. Alonso is dropped to the benched. Gerrard and Mascherano are the two marshalls in the centre of the pitch. Riise was moved to left back and Finnan Agger and Carragher make up the final four. The two men up front are Kuyt and Crouch.

Reina
Finnan Agger Carragher Riise
Pennant Gerrard Mascherano Zenden
Crouch Kuyt

The game started in a scrappy, hectic manner for the first 5-10 mins. Both teams playing it safe and feeling each other out. After the initial 10 mins, Liverpool were the first of the two to grow into the game. Chelsea was sitting back allowing Liverpool to come and them. Once Liverpool lost possession, they were launching direct balls forward looking for Drogba. Liverpool maintained the attacking pressure on Chelsea right up to the breakthrough that came in the 22nd min.

Liverpool earned a freekick when Gerrard was brought down by Joe Cole at the left hand side. While preparing for the freekick, Zenden came over to pass a message to his captain, Gerrard. What came next was right out of Rafa Benitez’s playbook. While the rest of the Liverpool players rush forwards towards the 6 yard box, Agger made a simple run along the top on the penalty box. Gerrard rolled it on to Agger’s path and the Dane slots it into the bottom corner with his left foot. Poor marking by Chelsea as the central defender was left unmarked.
1-0 Liverpool
1-1 on aggregate

The rest of the half saw Chelsea getting more and more into the game themselves and launched dangerous attacks on the Liverpool’s goal. Drogba had a marvelous chance after poor concentration by Agger allowed Drogba to get a clean path on goal. Once again, Pepe Reina was Liverpool’s saviour again by parrying away Drogba’s attempt.
Half time arrived with Liverpool leading 1-0. Throughout the 45 minutes, Anfield was in constant roar as the Anfield faithful were relentless in their support for their beloved them. Commentators described the noise as deafening.

One interesting thing that the 18YB crew spotted was that when the ball was hoisted to Crouch outside the area, the Chelsea defenders did not challenge him in the air. Instead, they formed a perimeter around Crouch, prepared to get any knockdowns. It was an interesting and effective strategy as Crouch did not contribute much in the first half with his knockdowns or flicks.

In the 1st 45 minutes, Liverpool were advancing down the flanks using Pennant and Zenden. Riise was also seen bombing forward from his left back position. The 2nd half would have Liverpool attacking towards their favorite Kop End.

Chelsea controlled the beginning of the 2nd half just like they controlled the last 15 minutes of the first half. Liverpool were pegged back for most the first 10 mins before they regain the larger possession once again. Chances fell to the likes of Pennant, Kuyt and Crouch but none was turned into a goal Liverpool searched for. Chances also feel for Drogba but good defending by Carragher saved Liverpool. After the initial Chelsea control, Liverpool slowly regained their larger share of possession.

In the 77 min, Rafa made his first change of the night; a surprising one also. The highly effective Jermaine Pennant was taken off and Xabi Alonso replaced him. This means Gerrard is shifted to the right side of midfield with Alonso and Mascherano in the middle. The crew of 18YB do not really agree with putting Gerrard on the right. Why change a system that has given you 60% possession of the football. It seems that Rafa is trying to keep it safe for the last 10 minutes. Extra time is on the cards as the match goes into the last 10 minutes. One have to ponder whether the Chelsea players will tire first as they have had less rest than the Liverpool players. Point to note is that no Champions League semi-final has ever gone to extra time before. The last 10 minutes fizzed by without any significant event for both sides.

Mejuto Martinez blows for the full time 90 mins. Ladies and Gentlemen, we have 30 mins of football still to go. 1-0 to Liverpool at 90 mins. 1-1 in aggregate. Chelsea has not used any of their substitutions while Liverpool still has 2 left. We would most likely see the introduction of Arjen Robben or Shaun Wright Phillips for Chelsea. Rafa could be looking at the injection of pace through Bellamy or Mark Gonzalez.

The extra time had few incidents. The start of the 2nd half of extra time saw Rafa taking off Peter Crouch for Craig Bellamy. Likewise, extra time saw the introduction of Shaun Wright Phillips and Arjen Robben. The only major incident was the disallowed goal by Dirk Kuyt which was ruled offside. Replays show he was in line with Ferreira at when Xabi Alonso had taken the shot. The whole of the extra time saw both teams resorting to long ball tactics to their front man. This is understandable as both sides look conserve any remaining energy left. As the extra time draws closer to the end, both managers made substitutions with the penalty shootout in mind. Rafa brought on Fowler while Mourinho called upon Geremi. Both are technically sound and it looks like both are settling for the penalty shootouts. The referee then blew his whistle signifying the dreaded penalty shootout.

Looking back at the 120 minutes, it was no surprise that the game did not have many clear cut chances. Both teams were on equal quality and it showed in the game. 18YB was surprised that Chelsea played a defensive game. It was more of a 4-5-1 with Cole and Kalou operating more defensively along in a flat four midfield. It was clear what Chelsea wanted to do. Launch the ball up towards Drogba so that he can hold up the ball allowing the rest to support him. That was Chelsea’s mode of attack. It was quite a let down because they look a better team when they play the ball on the ground like they did in the first leg. Agger’s goal was a huge boost to his confidence and it showed his marking of Drogba. Besides the one chance in the 1st half, Drogba did not have a sniff of goal. John Terry was as usual at his best. Another performer was Essien at central defence. He made numerous blocks on attempts by the Liverpool players. Lampard needed more help in creating openings. It seems that Ballack was also missed. Mikel is not the same caliber as Ballack. Due to injuries, Jose did not have the opportunity of putting on a proper 2nd striker to pile more pressure on Liverpool. As such, Drogba was much isolated through the game. Overall, here at 18YB feels that the Chelsea made a mistake by starting with sitting back. That only allowed Liverpool to increase in confidence as the game went on. They should have attacked Liverpool on the start as Jose said, “We will attack, we will frighten them” That did not happen and all that does not matter as it is up to the Russian roulette that is the penalty shootouts.

Liverpool set up with two wingers in their lineup. They wanted to float the ball into the box for Crouch and Kuyt at every opportunity to take advantage of Chelsea’s makeshift pairing. It was the case throughout the 120 mins with attacking moves going through Zenden and Pennant. Pennant and Ashley Cole were at it the whole game. They were great friends during their Arsenal days. Zenden rolled back the years to play in a wide position. The last time he played as a proper winger was in his Barcelona days. His workrate was superb throughout the game. Another heart-on-sleeve performance was from Mascherano. He played a very high tenacity game, breaking down Chelsea’s advances. It was seen he was constantly asking the fans to spike the volume up. Crouch was quiet with Kuyt having a better game. Carra and Agger did well to limit Drogba to only 1 good shot on goal. Gerrard started at central midfield but moved to the right during extra time for more defensive stability. The captain had a good solid game.

Penalty Shootout

Zenden Scored 1-0
Robben Saved 1-0
Alonso Scored 2-0
Lampard Scored 2-1
Gerrard Scored 3-1
Geremi Saved 3-1
Kuyt Scored 4-1

Reina won the battle of the goalkeepers again. He made two saves from Geremi and Robben’s penalties. Both were substitutes in the match. They might not have ‘warmed up’ to the atmosphere yet and could be affected by the hostile crowd. With Rafa sitting by the touchline with his legs cross, Liverpool players dispatched their penalties confidently. It appeared that Rafa went through penalty drills with his team in preparation of this game.

With that, Liverpool goes into the Champions League Final in Athens. Liverpool enters the Champions League Final looking to win the trophy for the 6th time in their history. There is no other deserving player than Dirk Kuyt to score the winning goal. He worked hard throughout the match, hit the crossbar and had a goal disallowed. Once again, Liverpool has done one over Chelsea. It looks like it is not third time lucky for Chelsea. The dreams of a quadruple are destroyed as realistically. They now have to shift their focus to the FA Cup to add to their League Cup victory. The 43,000 special ones were superb for the reds throughout the game. It looks like the 12th man did play a part in the proceedings. Now we awake in anticipation of the outcome of tonight’s match between AC Milan and Man Utd. Will it be a repeat of the 2005 Champions League Final or would it be an all-English Final?
Time will tell.