Lady Luck leaves Liverpool in the lurch

Liverpool 0 Benfica 2 (Agg 0-3)

Not even God, or Robbie Fowler as he is known at Anfield, could prevent Liverpool’s remarkable reign as European Champions from being brought to a sad end, as goals from Sabrosa Simao and Fabrizio Miccoli sent Benfica through to the quarter-finals of the Champions League.

An unlikely adventure that began more than 18 months ago and culminated in one of the most dramatic nights in football history, in Istanbul last May, came to an end at the hands of a Portuguese side who defended resolutely and attacked with the sort of venom Liverpool lacked, completing a 3-0 aggregate victory.

Yet at kick-off, the omens had looked good for Liverpool. Trailing 1-0 from the first leg in Lisbon a fortnight ago, the question was whether the Reds could score enough goals to beat the Portuguese, but in the end they could not muster one.Rafa Benitez had warned his players against going gung-ho from the start, but Liverpool still went for it and could have scored twice in the opening ten minutes. First Peter Crouch was put through on the right of the penalty area by Luis Garcia but his shot was deflected by defender Anderson on to the post. From the resulting corner, Jamie Carragher stabbed the ball into the side netting from close range.

Fernando Morientes wasted a chance with a weak header, Steven Gerrard had a shot blocked and then Luis Garcia missed a sitter, blazing the ball over from close range after a neat one-two with Morientes.

But the best chance came in the 25th minute when Harry Kewell’s pass allowed Gerrard to waltz through the Benfica defence and tee up Crouch, only for the tall striker to shoot straight at keeper Moretto’s legs.

Benfica had hardly threatened Pepe Reina’s goal in the opening half-hour, but then Geovanni rattled the bar with a dipping volley from the outside of the area, with Simao putting his follow-up header straight at the keeper.

But the killer blow came in the 35th minute. A harmless looking ball forward suddenly became more dangerous when Djimi Traore slipped, but still Carragher should have cleared instead of allowing himself to be dispossessed. The ball broke clear for Simao on the left, and he cut into a central position before unleashing a beautiful shot that curled and dipped past Reina into the far corner of goal.

The Kop was stunned, knowing Liverpool now needed to score three goals to have a chance of going through. But their side tried to hit back, with Beto almost scoring a spectacular own goal from Xabi Alonso’s deep cross, and Carragher headed against the post from a corner on the stroke of half-time.

The second-half brought more frustration for Liverpool, with Gerrard volleying wide from long range and Xabi Alonso having a shot saved from even greater distance.

Even the introduction of folk hero Robbie Fowler could not help Liverpool make the breakthrough.

As if to prove their luck was really out, when Liverpool did finally force the ball home from a Xabi Alonso corner, the assistant referee ruled that the ball had swerved out of play on its way from the flag kick.

Gerrard shot wide of the far post, Djibril Cisse blazed over the near post, and it was all over minutes later when Miccoli finished a swift counter-attack with a spectacular overhead kick past Reina from close range.

LIVERPOOL: Reina, Finnan, Carragher, Traore, Warnock (Hamann 70), Luis Garcia, Gerrard, Alonso, Kewell (Cisse 63), Morientes (Fowler 70), Crouch.

BENFICA: Moretto, Alcides, Luisao, Anderson, Leo, Robert (Ricardo Rocha 70), Beto, Manuel, Geovanni (Karagounis 60), Simao, Nuno Gomes (Miccoli 76).

Ref: Massimo De Santis (Italy).