[lfc-news] Leverkusen report - PA

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PA Sport, 9 Mar 2005
Bayer Leverkusen 1 Liverpool 3 (Agg: 2-6)

Liverpool cruised through to the Champions League quarter-finals with a
3-1 victory in Germany which brought back all the distant memories of
the Anfield club's illustrious past in this competition.

Stripped of almost a full side through injuries and ineligibility,
Liverpool destroyed a Bayer side who are not used to losing on their own
ground.

Luis Garcia gave Liverpool a first-half platform with two goals, before
Milan Baros added the third late in the second period with the game way
out of Leverkusen's reach. Daniel Bierofka scored a consolation goal
with three minutes left.

Milan Baros could have got Liverpool off to a great start after just
four minutes when he took a Luis Garcia pass and found himself clear of
his marker, but chose to jink the ball on to his right foot and send in
a weak shot that Jorg Butt saved one-handed.

Baros had another half chance when John Arne Riise found him on the edge
of the box, but the covering defenders quickly swamped the Czech striker.

And then when Baros outpaced Jan-Ingwer Callsen-Bracker on 11 minutes,
he looked to be cut down by the defender in the box, but French referee
Alain Sars waved away all appeals.

But throughout all this, Bayer were having by far the most possession
and were slowly pushing Liverpool back and making them run and run to
break up the flow.

Another Baros run got him away from Placente, but with Gerrard arriving
unmarked in the box, the square ball across goal towards the skipper was
nowhere near accurate enough.

Leverkusen wasted clear openings when Landon Donavan miskicked and then
Sena Franca repeated the error.

Gerrard's 25-yard shot was touched around by Butt and, although the
corner was wasted, Leverkusen did not clear it properly and the ball
arrived back at Gerrard's feet.

He instantly fed the ball into the box and Luis Garcia was on hand to
clip the ball past Butt with the outside of his foot to give Liverpool
the away goal they so desperately wanted.

Liverpool extended their lead in the 32nd minute with Gerrard again the
supplier, sending in a corner that Sami Hyypia headed down and Luis
Garcia swept past Butt from close range.

Liverpool's delirious fans were in dreamland with the Germans utterly
deflated.

Luis Garcia almost got his hat-trick on 38 minutes when he was set up by
Baros but saw his 12 yard drive tipped over by Butt.

Gerrard started the second half in increasingly dominant form.

Bayer had never got to grips with his roving role and he kept popping up
in critical positions to break up play and feed Baros, Riise and Luis
Garcia.

Bayer wasted their best chance when Daniel Bierofka crossed from the
right and the unmarked Franka hooked the ball down and up over the bar
before Andrej Voronin drove over from another Bierofka cross.

Dietmar Hamann, playing despite not fully recovering from an ankle
problem that kept him out at Newcastle, was replaced on 62 minutes by
Vladimir Smicer.

Almost immediately Gerrard saw a blistering drive blocked by Butt and
was alert enough to regain control and set up Baros for a close-range
chance the striker sliced badly across goal.

But on 66 minutes Baros finally found the net and finished the contest
beyond question. Warnock and Riise created the chance, and Baros jinked
inside a defender to drill home the third.

The Germans sent on Gonzalo Castro Randon for Carsten Ramelow, while
Liverpool replaced Jamie Carragher with John Welsh, Igor Biscan dropping
into the back four.

Then Antonio Nunez took over from Steve Finnan, the winger taking up the
right-back slot as Benitez was able to test out a few ideas with the
game more than won.

Bayer grabbed a goal with two minutes three through Jacek Krzynowek, but
by then large areas of the stadium had emptied, the German fans knowing
this was a lost cause a long time ago for their heroes.

Bayer Leverkusen: Butt, Schneider, Callsen-Bracker, Ramelow (Castro 70),
Placente, Babic, Bierofka, Krzynowek, Donovan (Fritz 53), Franca,
Berbatov (Voronin 32).
Subs not used: Starke, Ozturk, Dum, Rottger.
Booked: Bierofka
Goals: Krzynowek 88

Liverpool: Dudek, Finnan (Nunez 74), Hyypia, Carragher (Welsh 70),
Warnock, Luis Garcia, Hamann (Smicer 62), Biscan, Riise, Gerrard, Baros.
Subs not used: Carson, Le Tallec, Raven, Potter.
Booked: none
Goals: Luis Garcia 28, 32, Baros 67

Att: 23,000
Referee: Alain Sars (France)

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