I really wanted to watch this game but decided I really had to go to the gym instead (since I’d been sick for a couple weeks and am off to Blackburn Thursday). Damn damn damn. Turned it on just in time for Owen’s penalty.
Of course I’m delighted to see Basel go through, and not just because it makes our exit at their hands less embarrassing. But I really wish I had been able to see the entire game. So what do you folks reckon are Basel’s chances for the next round?
[sub]insert obligatory “please don’t bother responding if you don’t know or care what I’m talking about” clause here[/sub]
It’s difficult to type and laugh at the same time, but I’ll do my best.
First of all, it was a cracker of a match for a neutral bystander, and the Reds deserve all credit for a plucky fight back, but it has to be said that Basle were understandably complacent during the second half, and although Murphy’s goal was a nice sharp finish, Owen was offside. I thought the penalty was one of those handball/ball-to-hand jobs (don’t read that too quickly) that refs sometimes give and sometimes don’t.
Going forward, Basle looked OK – even at three-nil – especially Hakan Yakin, who made all the goals. But it didn’t help the cause for Liverpool’s defence, even Hyppia, being asleep for the first two. Swapping Milan Baros for Heskey was a good move, but the problems were in defence, not attack.
If Basle come up against any of the big boys in the next stage they’ll struggle – and they may have used up all their get out of jail cards at Anfield. Let’s face it, teams rarely go far in the competition without past experience behind them, and I don’t expect them to buck that trend. I think you have to be an attacking force like Valencia of 2000 to absorb the liability of a defence that concedes three at home, and they’re not all that.
All the best for the Blackburn game, of course. I’d appreciate it if you take them to extra time too as we’ve got them next.
I hope we don’t take them to extra time, I’m not sure my heart can take it
It’s been really interesting the British media coverage of Basel, I really don’t think they’ve been given the respect they deserve. Probably comes down to being managed by Christian Gross and therefore being subject to the same arrogant “he failed in our leage, therefore he’s crap” attitude that Joseph Venglos got.
Basel were very fierce going forward in the first half. Liverpool weren’t helped by the fact that Gerard Houllier seemed to have taken his tactics from the Big Book of How Not To Defend. It looked an awful lot like “let’s stand around, holding our line, and hope for offside.”
Riise was fast asleep for the first goal, and Hyypiä’s mind seemed to be elsewhere for a lot of the time (he’s had a few slightly “off” games this season).
Basel were rather good, but I’d be interested to see how well they do against a better-performing defence and a beefier midfield.
Great game but I don’t know if Basel can go much further. They are good going forward but they conceded 12 goals in the group which leads me to think that they’ll struggle in the next phase. There are rumours that Hakan Yakin will be snapped up during the January transfer window - he would be a big loss for the last couple of group games. But you never know, they might do a Bayer Leverkusen and single handedly destroy British clubs’ ambitions in the CL.
Their success doesn’t make Ireland’s task of winning away to Switzerland look any easier.
Basel will struggle to get any further…
But who cares???
Basel are definitely one of my top ten favourite teams of all time from now on.
I really needed something to cheer me up after the derby at the weekend, and this was it.
Bitter Manc? Yeah, but a happier bitter Manc, and ten quid richer for betting with a scouser (who’s a cockney) we’d progress further than the red thieves.
I think he meant that Graham achieved less at Spurs then Gross.
Or that keeping Spurs in the Premier league is a greater achievement than winning trofees with Arsenal.
Liverpool is out of CL because they been defending and hoping for a lucky goal the last matches. Their luck ran out on Saturday and didn’t return today.
Basel won’t get further. The rest of CL will be a UK/Spain/Italy affair.
I was afraid you’d say something like that. Forget it – it’s probably just me (and welcome aboard the SDMB by the way).
The draw for the second stage of the Champions League has just been made:
GROUP D
Manchester United
Juventus
Deportivo La Coruna Basle
What was I saying about the big boys? Very tough draw. The other groups look like this:
GROUP A
Barcelona
Inter Milan
Bayer Leverkusen
Newcastle United
GROUP B
Valencia
Arsenal
Roma
Ajax
GROUP C
Real Madrid
AC Milan
Borussia Dortmund
Lokomotiv Moscow
As far as last night’s game is concerned, an earlyish goal makes all the difference, of course, but Celtic seemed to have sharpened up a compared to the first leg – much more confident in defence this time, and holding the ball much more in the middle. I don’t think Blackburn played any worse, but there wasn’t that gap of pace or quickness in the tackle that earned them so much possession in the first leg.
The result seemed to be in little doubt well before the second goal and Blackburn crumbled after it. Sutton, Lennon, Petrov and Agathe all very good.
Wisla Krakow v Schalke 04
Lazio v Sturm Graz
Real Betis v Auxerre
Besiktas v Dynamo Kiev
Paris St Germain v Boavista
Club Brugge v VfB Stuttgart
Liverpool v Vitesse Arnhem
Panathinaikos v Slovan Liberec
Denizlispor v Lyon
Bordeaux v Anderlecht
Malaga v Leeds United
PAOK Salonika v Slavia Prague
Hertha Berlin v Fulham
AEK Athens v Maccabi Haifa
Porto v Lens Celtic v Celta Vigo
First legs - 28 November
Second legs - 12 December
Yes, those Champions League draws are tough. Newcastle managed to avoid Real Madrid, but there still going to have a tough time of it. Arsenal have got Valencia, who looked awesome in the first round. As for Group D, Basel look like outsiders but I could see any one of the other three teams joining them on the way out. I always support British teams in European competitions no matter what I think of them in the domestic leagues but they all look likely to have some difficulties.
Vitesse Arnhem have shown mediocre form in the Dutch League (7th place, W4, D3, L4) but did well to beat Werder Bremen in the last round. They don’t have any stand-out stars.
Málaga only qualified through the backdoor of the Intertoto Cup, they have risen to 7th place in the league after a home win against the bottom club Osasuna but have been conceding a few goals against better opposition.
Hertha Berlin, by a strange coincidence, are also in 7th place in the Bundesliga and have had mixed form of late. They had an easy win over Apoel Nikosia of Cyprus in the last round, Brazilian signing Luizao scoring before going off with a bad calf injury.
Celta Vigo are certainly doing well in the Primera Liga this year (ahead of both Real Madrid and Barcelona), aguably only Lazio and Liverpool would be favourites to beat them over two legs.
