Liverpool news

Liverpool faces Chelsea again

Today, the drawing results of the Champions League quarter-finals were splashed on almost all headlines in almost all newspaper, I believe. And the subtitle? "LIVERPOOL FACE CHELSEA AGAIN..." or something like that.

This is very true. Liverpool certainly face Chelsea again in the quarter finals, and this is the fifth consecutive seasons they have, or would have met. Liverpool have won 2 and Chelsea 1 of the clubs' recent battles in Europe, but it is the Blues who triumphed in the most recent head-to-head encounter-last year's semi-finals.

Reds won the 04/05 semi-final, before the teams locked horns again in the 2005/06 group stage. Liverpool then won the 2006/07 semi-final against Chelsea under Avram Grant. I felt that Liverpool shall revenge on their rivals as they have already slaughtered them twice this season. However, it would not be Mourinho, Grant or even Scolari they would be facing this time; it will be Guus Hiddink, who has not led Chelsea to a defeat, yet.

Holders Manchester United play Portuguese champions FC Porto, while Arsenal meet Villarreal from Spain. The winners of the Liverpool-Chelsea tie will take on either Barcelona or Bayern Munich, with the pair meeting in the other quarter-final. Of all the teams, I think Man Utd has the best draw of all.

1^st leg April 7, 2^nd leg April 15
Villarreal v Arsenal
Manchester United v Porto

1st leg April 8, 2nd leg April 14
Liverpool v Chelsea
Barcelona v Bayern Munich

Semi-finals (1st leg April 28&29, 2nd leg May 5&6)
Manchester United or Porto v Villarreal or Arsenal
Barcelona or Bayern Munich v Liverpool or Chelsea

Liverpool continued leading Power Rankings

Liverpool continue to dominate the European Power Rankings following their stunning victory over Manchester United. Not satisfied with slaughtering Real Madrid 4-0 just few days earlier, Liverpool were at it again at Old Trafford, coming from behind to register a spectacular, ego-busting, morale-raising, title race opening 4-1 win. That was enough for them to maintain their lead over Barcelona at the summit of our the Power Rankings for another week, while Devils slipped a place to the 4th place following the mauling in Old Trafford.

Bayern Munich were the team to take advantage of the slip, rising into 3rd after victory over Bochum. Chelsea and Arsenal stayed in 5th and 11th place respectively despite convincing victories. Porto dropped a place to ninth Villareal, slipped to 17th as a result of Atletico Madrid 's 3- 2 win. For the record, Atleti jumped two places to 15th.

European Power Rankings (previous rankings in brackets):
1 (1) Liverpool - 23.02
2 (2) Barcelona - 22.85
3 (4) Bayern Munich - 20.94
4 (3) Manchester United - 20.36
5 (5) Chelsea - 19.89
6 (7) Juventus - 18.66
7 (8) Real Madrid - 18.61
8 (9) Porto - 18.57
9 (12) Hamburg - 17.94
10 (6) CSKA Moscow - 17.90
11 (11) Arsenal - 17.72
12 (10) AS Roma - 17.59
13 (13) Inter Milan - 17.41
14 (14) Metalist Kharkiv - 16.74
15 (17) Atletico Madrid - 16.71
16 (19) Sporting - 16.50
17 (16) Villarreal - 16.46
18 (15) Dynamo Kiev - 16.23
19 (20) Panathinaikos - 16.05
20 (18) Lyon - 16.02
29 (25) Manchester City - 13.03

For more information on how it works, visit this website.

Liverpool 5 named by Spain

5 Liverpool players were named in the Spain squad for the upcoming World Cup qualifiers against Turkey, namely goalkeeper Jose Reina, defender Alvaro Arbeloa, midfielders Xabi Alonso and Albert Riera, and striker Fernando Torres. More

Click here to view the table, fixtures and results of 2010 World Cup qualifiers.

Gerrard assault charge dropped

Prosecutors have dropped accusations of assault against Steven Gerrard but the he will still face a charge of affray over a bar brawl. More

Late "Happy Birthday!" for Torres

It was Fernando Torres' birthday yesterday!

Man Utd 1 Liverpool 4

What a fantastic week for Liverpool! After a thrilling and speculating 4-0 win over Spanish side Real Madrid, Liverpool capped another humiliating victory over Man Utd, triumphing twice against their bitter rivals for the second time this season.

Goals by Fernando Torres(28'), Steven Gerrard(44', pen), Fabio Aurelio(77') and Andrea Dossena(90+1') helped Liverpool to launch a comeback and cut the gap between Man Utd to 4 points and rekindle their title hopes, although Man Utd still have a game in hand. Cristiano Ronaldo's opener came from a well-taken penalty spot kick on 22 minutes after Jose Reina had brought down Park Ji-Sung with a reckless and unnecessary challenge in the Liverpool penalty area.

I was almost ecstatic when I know about it. I could not believe my eyes when I saw the results. Liverpool positively outplayed their fiercest rivals as you can see in the live commentary and team statistic in the following link:
http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/football/premier-league/2008-2009/man-united-liverpool-236908.html

I was convinced when I saw the goals scored in the match (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Px6wN5GBdw). Liverpool did brilliantly and all the goals were perfect. Torres' and Dossena's goals came from long passes from the other end of the pitch while Gerrard's and Aurelio's spot-kicks were magnificent. They recorded a stunning win and put Man Utd consecutive wins to an end. Rafa Benitez also celebrates his 100^th Premiership victory. Most important of all, Liverpool revive their faltering title chase.

This match is also :

• Liverpool's first win at Man Utd in 5 years.
• Rafa Benitez's first win at Old Trafford.
• Liverpool's biggest win at Old Trafford in 73 years.
• Man Utd's worst home defeat since a loss by the same score in 1992 against Queens Park Rangers.
• Man Utd's first defeat for 11 games.
• Man Utd's first game without victory for 25 games.

Did you know that Liverpool are officially kings of Europe, not Man Utd, Chelsea, Barcelona or AC Milan - and you can click here for the proof - as they top the European Power Rankings.