Liverpool were taught a harsh lesson at the Bernabeu on Friday. The European champions bettered the Reds in every department and had it not been for some good saves by Jerzy Dudek, the scoreline could have been even more emphatic.
Liverpool may have preferred to play some warm up games against lesser opposition, but having been invited to Madrid for Real’s centenary celebrations, it would have been rude to decline.
The “King’s of Europe” was a fitting title for a tournament whose four participants could boast 21 European cup wins
between them. However, Liverpool’s 1981 victory over Real obviously still rankles, as t-shirts on sale outside the stadium only credited the Reds with three successes!
The 350 Reds fans who bought tickets from Anfield found themselves seated high up in the Gods with strong voices being needed to make the players hear them. At least as many more Reds were dotted around the stadium and they made as much if not more noise than the away section, which appeared to contain a large element of weekend trippers.
An injury to Owen meant that Diouf partnered Heskey up front, while Murphy started in central midfield in place of the not risked Gerrard. With Babbel being eased back into the fore, Xavier played at right back with Vignal at left back. Vignal had begun to develop a good understanding down the left flank with Riise last season before he got injured and it could be a clue as to Houllier’s preferred starting line up for 2002-3.
Real were not at full strength, with Roberto Carlos, Raul and Morientes all being notable absentees. However in the
two most expensive players in the world, Figo and Zidane, they had two men with a point to prove after getting their reputations bruised in the World Cup.
The reds threatened first, winning a corner in the second minute when Smicer’s cross was blocked. Hyypia neatly flicked on the resultant kick but nobody was available to connect and Real scrambled clear. The Spaniards then began to assert their authority and after eight minutes Zidane met Figo’s cross only for his shot to hit the post.
Dudek’s goal was under threat again five minutes later but he saved easily from Savio, before Figo hit a free kick just over the bar. Midway through the half, Zidane had a great opportunity but Dudek pulled off a fantastic save from his left foot shot. On 24 minutes the Reds finally managed a shot on target, but Smicer’s effort took a deflection off Heskey and the keeper gathered easily. Cesar was tested four minutes later however when he had to be at his best to hold on to Riise’s powerful shot.
Liverpool’s brief rally sparked Real back into action and Bravo went close with a drive from the edge of the area, before Figo had a free kick well saved by Dudek. But on 39 minutes the luck finally ran out when Figo went on a short run before beautifully slotting the ball into the corner of the net. Henchoz can consider himself unlucky that the ball went through his legs, but the half time lead was no more than Real deserved for their pressure.
With Vignal struggling to contain Figo, Riise was moved to left back for the second half and Berger brought on. Cheyrou also came off the bench, replacing Smicer. Within five minutes of the restart, Liverpool should have drawn level when Heskey missed a great opportunity. Racing clear of his marker, he was clean through on goal but went for placement rather than power and Cesar easily saved his tame shot.
A minute later there was some good work by Diouf in the area but his effort was deflected and easily picked up by the keeper. On the hour mark Real put the game beyond Liverpool’s reach. Zidane’s defence splitting pass found Portillo and he neatly hooked the ball past Dudek.
Liverpool’s response was to withdraw Heskey and bring on Milan Baros but from then on the Reds looked well and truly beaten. Cheyrou and Baros both went close after individual work, but very little was created by the team as a unit. The
performance was epitomised by Berger’s 70th minute free kick from 40 yards that sailed high into the crowd. One of the few things that did cheer the travelling Reds was the appearance of Jamie Carragher with fifteen minutes remaining.
Coming on for Hamman, he has completed a remarkable recovery from an injury that was expected to sideline him till mid September at the earliest. For Real, Figo was replaced by ex Red Steve McManaman who went close to embarrassing Liverpool further with a glancing header that went wide. However, the number of changes on either side led to very little incident in the closing stages as the game had lost it’s flow.
The fact that Liverpool’s final substitution saw Diouf being withdrawn for Igor Biscan demonstrated that even Gerard Houlleir had given up hope of getting a result. Many of the crowd were only prevented from falling asleep by the loud noises that would announce a change of advert on the scoreboard.
At the end of the game Liverpool trudged off having learnt a thing or two about keeping possession as well as creating and finishing chances. Gerard Houllier was right to be disappointed but as he pointed out, it’s better to make mistakes now and correct them in training before the season proper starts. Real may have been overwhelming, but considering the tournament was the culmination of their
centenary celebrations we should have expected nothing less.
If do have to face them in the Champions League, we should have Owen and Gerrard available and hopefully would do more than we did to exploit their vulnerability in set pieces. At the end of the day, it’s a measure of how far Liverpool FC have come that they were invited to take part in a tournament organised by the world’s most successful club. All in all, we should not be too disheartened by this defeat.
Team: Jerzy Dudek; Abel Xavier, Sami Hyypia, Stephane Henchoz, Gregory Vignal (Patrik Berger); Vladimir Smicer (Bruno Cheyrou), Didi Hamann (Jamie Carragher), Danny Murphy, John Arne Riise; El Hadji Diouf (Igor Biscan), Emile Heskey (Milan Baros):
