[lfc-news] Leverkusen report - Official Site

Official LFC Website, 16 July 2005
CISSE AND BAROS GIVE REDS DESERVED WIN
Paul Eaton in Lustenau

Liverpool stepped up their pre-season preparations as two goals from
Djibril Cisse and a second half strike from Milan Baros secured an
impressive 3-0 victory over Bayer Leverkusen in Austria this evening.

The Reds were fully deserving of their win as they again coasted to
victory over one of the sides they so memorably defeated on their way to
Champions League glory last season.

Rafael Benitez used the match to give as many of his players a run-out
as possible, and he'll be pleased with the contribution of them all as
they dominated their German opponents from first whistle to last and
could have won by even more goals.

French striker Djibril Cisse will be more than pleased with his night's
work as he scored a first half double - his opening goals of pre-season
- to set the Reds up for a well earned win.

Cisse was the star of the first half as he grabbed the two goals which
gave the Reds a comfortable interval lead.

If the Frenchman feels he has something to prove as speculation
increases that manager Rafael Benitez wants to bring in another striker
then he successfully began his bid to impress with two quality strikes
in the space of 60 seconds.

If Cisse gets the credit for two clinical finishes, then French
team-mate Anthony Le Tallec should also receive a mention for two
sublime passes which set up the chances for the Liverpool striker.

The first goal arrived after 25 minutes when Le Tallec played Cisse into
space down the right hand side and he made no mistake with a thumping
finish into the back of the net.

Less than a minute later the Reds were celebrating a second goal when Le
Tallec again opened up the Leverkusen defence and Cisse again latched
onto the opportunity and made no mistake with a neat finish.

The only black spot in an otherwise excellent first half for the Reds
arrived in the early stages when left back Stephen Warnock was forced to
leave the field following a collision with Paul Freier.

Rafa Benitez made a number of changes at half time, one of which gave
Momo Sissoko his first appearance in a Liverpool shirt as he lined up
alongside Steven Gerrard in the Reds' midfield.

Liverpool added a third goal after 56 minutes when Milan Baros netted
his third goal of the pre-season campaign so far.

Captain Steven Gerrard was inspirational in the goal as he launched a
brilliant pass forward into Baros' path, and the Czech ace used his pace
to beat the goalkeeper to the ball before cleverly lifting his shot over
Starke and into the back of the net.

Liverpool will stay in their Swiss training base for the next week ahead
of the friendly clash with Olympiacos in seven days time, although a
squad will fly back to Merseyside on Monday night to contest the second
leg of the Champions League qualifier with TNS at Wrexham.

Rafael Benitez was quietly satisfied with his side's performance.

"It was a good game for us," said the boss afterwards. "We used a
different team in each half and I am pleased with the performance. My
idea was to see all the players and I now have to analyse the squad
before selecting who will fly back to face TNS on Tuesday. That is most
important for us now."

The only black spot on a pleasing night was the first half injury to
Stephen Warnock and Benitez added: "He suffered a problem with his elbow
and we need to wait for the x-ray results before knowing the full extent
of the damage. Hopefully it's nothing too serious."

Liverpool (First half): Dudek, Finnan, Carragher, Whitbread, Warnock
(Traore 12), Potter, Hamann, Alonso, Riise, Le Tallec, Cisse
(Second half): Carson, Medjani, Josemi, Whitbread (Hyypia 63), Traore,
Luis Garcia, Gerrard, Sissoko, Zenden, Le Tallec (Morientes 63), Baros.
Goals: Cisse 25, 26, Baros 56

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