Last Minute Heartbreak in France

Further to my post “Why Rafa Must Win on Wednesday”, it is now Thursday and Rafa’s Reds left Lyon with only a point. That leaves Liverpool with only 4 points after 4 games. Once again, they are averaging a point a game. Liverpool love a late comeback, however, so you can’t completely rule them out of the knockout phase, but it isn’t looking bright at all. Steven Gerrard has only played 25 minutes in the last month and looks as if he may be facing a session under the knife of a surgeon in order to get back out on the pitch. Fernando Torres has been fighting through pain in order to play and will likely also face a surgeon’s scalpel in order to regain his full fitness.

Yesterday’s game was full of excitement, but if I had to describe it in one word, I’d have to choose cruel. Both Lyon and Liverpool attacked all night, and all sorts of chances were created on both ends. Hugo Lloris, Lyon’s goalkeeper, was by far my man of the match. He spent a majority of the night keeping his team in the game with point blank saves and was left completely stranded when Ryan Babel dropped a 25 yard bomb in the 82nd minute. Babel’s effort looked to secure a crucial three points for the Liverpudlians – their celebrations blatantly showed how important of a goal it was.

All they had to do was hold on for 8 minutes. Don’t concede, pack it in. Grind out the win and head back to England with the much needed victory. They couldn’t do it, though. In the 90th minute Lisandro Lopez, Lyon’s Argentine striker, finished off an impressive attack that meant the spoils would be shared. The table now looks like this:

Lyon                 10pts
Fiorentina        9pts
Liverpool          4pts
Debrecen          0pts

‘Pool’s fate is no longer in their hands, but one thing is for sure -They need to win their final two games and hope pray that Fiorentina lose both.

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