God Hates Us

By: Al | November 5th, 2008

Liverpool 1 – Atlético Madrid 1

Steven Gerrard’s cheesy grin has never pissed me off more.

Everyone pretty much knows what happened yesterday. Stevie G threw himself at Pernia and was allowed a penalty for it. I’m not even going to complain about the ref. It’s just a shame how luck is never on our side in this Champions League campaign. From the stadium and coach bans, to the disallowed goals and stupid penalty calls, it feels like there’s something trying to hold us back in this campaign (My finger isn’t pointing to the sky! How dare you accuse me??!)

Lineup:

Leo Franco – Perea, Heitinga, Pernia, Antonio Lopez – Maniche, Raul Garcia, Assuncao, Simao – Maxi, Forlan

Aguero for Forlan (71)
Luis Garcia for Simao (90)

Why Aguero was rested somewhat baffles me. I know that Kun himself said that it’ll take a while for him to get back in form, but if scoring two goals last weekend doesn’t mean that he’s in form, then I’ll be damned. 71st minute entrance is better than nothing. And poor Luis Garcia, given only a few minutes to play against his former club in his former stadium.

Match highlights:

It seemed like Liverpool didn’t have it in them to crank out that 2-1 or 3-1 they are so fond of. Robbie Keane didn’t connect too well and only had minor opportunities to shine. Dirk “that’s not a mask” Kuyt had an off-day and was very ineffective on the pitch. The true Liverpool stars were the defensive midfielders and the defense. Masch and Xabi Alonso were in good form and did their job well providing passes and fulfilling their minor defensive duties. Carra’ also denied us some crucial chances.

Our team, obviously, played the more effective game. Leo Franco was in good shape and did his job well to deny ‘Pool’s shots. The midfield did well with the passes and the pacing. Maxi did fantastic and of course, scored the killer goal of the night. Forlan and Aguero didn’t do too much but whatever.

(And yes, I’m aware that Pernia touched the ball with his hand in the box which should’ve been a penalty. Which is why I don’t want to discuss the refs.)

Here’s how things stand in the group (cool picture that I snagged from my stream):

I’m a firm believer that we’re going to qualify for the next round. We lead the group (!) and all that we have left is a behind-closed-doors home fixture against PSV and a match away to Marseille. If we win one of these matches, we can say hello to the round of 16. I’m so excited.

Who cares about the bad luck? Once we’re into the round of the 16 (hopefully) these bans will be left behind and we’ll begin our next objective of going as far as we can through the round of 16.

We play Osasuna this weekend. How fun.

Aupa Atleti!