The Liver Bird  

Long may he prove his critics wrong...
Despite Liverpool beating Atletico Madrid 2-1 at Anfield last night and putting on a fantastic performance with every player giving 110%, that early goal from the first leg came back to haunt us after Atletico booked their place in the final on the away goals rule.
Due to injuries and a tactical decision by Benitez to switch Johnson onto the left side, the line up was as good as could be under recent circumstances. Masch was pushed into right-back position with Johnson on the left, Carra and Agger were in the centre and Reina in goal.
Kuyt lead the line with Babel and Benayoun on the wings. Aquilani, Gerrard and Lucas made up the rest of the XI.
Liverpool made a fantastic start to the game with immense tempo and urgency. Gaining 4 corners within the first minutes of the match, it was clear the attitude was there. Anfield was as vociferous as ever and the stage was set for a memorable night in Liverpool.
Despite the good start and the holding off of At…

A frustrated Dirk Kuyt portrays everyone's emotions...
One goal separated the two sides last night at the Vicente Calderon, scored within 9minutes in rather bizarre and scrappy circumstances, it was enough to see Atletico Madrid take glory in the first leg of our Europa League Semi Final.
Benitez reintroduced Mascherano and dropped Maxi Rodriguez for this fixture due to him being ineligible for the competition. The remainder of the XI was the same fielded against West Ham.
It wasn't long before Liverpool's defence was undone. With barely any chance to settle down Atletico punished with a fast paced attack originating from their own half.
Frustratingly, Forlan was unmarked, the player who i was so certain we should be able to deal with was allowed too much space. When the cross came in, a diving Kyrgiakos could not connect, Agger was too far away from the action and Carragher was still checking back after he was pulled out of position.
When Forlan made contact though, something …

Me?... Tired?... Noooo.
Fernando Torres will miss out again as Liverpool prepare to face Atletico Madrid on Thursday night. After sustaining a knee injury, the number 9 will not be able to face his old club as Liverpool's plight in the Europa League continues.
The Reds reached destination Madrid earlier on today after a mammoth journey across the continent. Starting with a train ride from Runcorn and ending with a flight to Madrid the trek included an overnight stay in Paris, several coach/train stints and a lot of autographs.
Nevertheless, the team and the Manager have arrived safe and sound ready to face their Spanish opposition. With the flight ban on UK airspace also now lifted, the travel back should be a lot easier for the lads who would have found it a tight squeeze trying to get back in good time for the Premier League fixture on the weekend against Burnley.
Liverpool head into this tie on the back of an uplifting 3-0 win over West Ham, confidence should be high and with the p…

Mascherano nets Liverpool's first goal...
Javier Mascherano, Ryan Babel and Steven Gerrard all found the back of the net yesterday evening in Bucharest, after going down 1-0 to the home side when Fernandes scored in the first half, Liverpool managed to complete a very successful turn around.
A strong team was fielded by Rafa, although Torres was left out, perhaps for precautionary reasons. Benayoun however did start along with Ryan Babel on the other wing. Kuyt had been left on the bench and Kyrgiakos was not opted to start.
Up until the Urziceni goal Liverpool were looking rather ineffective, the Romanians were pushing forward, gaining corners and free kicks and looking quite dangerous whereas our only moment of credit was a Steven Gerrard drive which was saved by second fiddle Lithuanian goalkeeper - Arlauskis.
The goal came from a corner for the Romanians, a leaping and in space Fernandes sent the ball past Reina leaving the defence bemused.
There was nobody anywhere near Fernandes…

RB:"Your scarf makes you look like a pillock." .........."I'm serious."
Liverpool had to settle for just the 1 point yesterday, after both teams failed to score in a 0-0 stalemate. Despite the massive boosts of Torres and Benayoun making shock appearances on the bench and also being utilised, the lads could not get anything past Shay Given.
Neither side really caused problems for each others goal keeper with Reina only being called to make one super save and Given much the same.
City were without Tevez and did not opt to start Craig Bellamy, they were set up in a similar fashion to ourselves and it appears that both formations were cancelling each other out.
In a post match interview Benitez was quoted saying that the idea was to try and break City down but it just didn't work... Too right it didn't.
Before we get all up in arms about it though, let's take a step back and analyse things properly.
Let's look at Aston Villa's run in first...
They are…