Liverpool Day

A new Champions League record has been set

2. "Marseille"

3. Liverpool

4. Besiktas

The forwards of the teams playing in the Champions League have finally declared their claims to the title of top scorer of the tournament. On Tuesday, five doubles were recorded at once. But the leader of the Israeli national team, Yossi Benayoun, was especially furious: the Liverpool midfielder became the main creator of the Reds' record victory over the Turkish Besiktas - with a difference of 8:0, no one had ever won in the group stage of the Champions League.

Group "A". For a long time afterwards, Besiktas head coach Ertugrul Saglam apologized to his fans. “It was a very bad night for us and for our fans. The result shocked us all,” he said after the match. But if this had happened not at Anfield Road, but in Istanbul, the mentor and his players would hardly have gotten away with just an apology.

Meanwhile, the beginning of the match did not seem to foreshadow such an outcome. Yes, the Ukrainian Voronin and the British Crouch each had a chance, but after they missed their opportunities, it seemed that Liverpool would fail the next match in the Champions League. However, the “Reds” perfectly understood that any loss of points could be fatal and after another misfire, “Marseille” and “Porto” would no longer be able to catch up. And as soon as the same Crouch opened the scoring on the second attempt, the hosts played much more confidently. As a result, Benayoun’s super-effective game: the midfielder, who had not previously been successful, scored the first hat-trick in this year’s group tournament.

“The first goal decided a lot,” Liverpool coach Rafael Benitez nevertheless singled out Crouch’s initiative. - The goal made the game more open, and the opponent had to go forward. This gave our forwards more space." However, even such a brilliant victory does not make Liverpool the favorite in Group A. In order to reach the playoffs, the Reds need to win both remaining matches against the leaders Porto and Marseille.

In Group B, Valencia found themselves in a similar deplorable situation. Ronald Koeman, urgently sent to Spain to save the bats, began his mission with failure. At Mestalla, the hosts lost to Rosenborg, who were aiming for the loudest sensation of the tournament. The second victory in a row opens up broad prospects for the Norwegian champions in the group. The hero of the meeting was striker Iversen. At first his shot hit the post, but the forward soon corrected himself, consolidating the guests' advantage in the first half. And after the break, Rosenborg caught Valencia on a counterattack, winning a natural victory.

And Chelsea could become the first participant in the playoffs. In case of victory over Schalke, the Blues would no longer be able to catch up in the group. But even a goalless draw turned out to be a completely acceptable result for Abraham Grant’s team: at the end of the meeting, the ball hit the woodwork twice, where Carlo Cudicini took his place after another injury to Peter Cech.

In group “C” , on the contrary, no one has yet lost their chance of successful performance. Even the outsider Werder, having lost to Lazio, can fix everything in three weeks in the match with Real. The “royal” club has developed a formula for success - a win at home and a draw away - and strictly follows it in the group tournament. In any case, Olympiacos could not knock Real off the schedule. But the labor draw allowed the Greeks to fight on equal terms with Lazio for a ticket to the playoffs. The Italians are doing everything possible not to miss their chance, and the first victory in the Champions League group stage in four years confirms the Romans' ambitions.

Meanwhile, Shakhtar, which started the tournament healthy, has already lost the advantage it gained at the start in Group D. Two major defeats from Milan equalized the Pitmen's chances with Celtic. “We had a great first 65 minutes. match, and Milan didn’t have a single moment,” Shakhtar coach Mircea Lucescu quite accurately described the first two thirds of the match. But what then happened to his team, the Romanian coach could not explain. But just Felippo Inzaghi entered the field, which was an unpleasant surprise for the hosts. The hero of the last Champions League final converted his first chance, then made an assist to Kaka, and in stoppage time he himself summed up the match - 3:0. Now Shakhtar will have to prove its right to a place in the playoffs in head-to-head competition with Celtic in Glasgow.

Match results. Group "A". Liverpool - Besiktas - 8:0 (Crouch 19, 89, Benayoun 32, 53, 56, Gerrard 69, Babel 78, 81) , Porto - Marseille - 2:1 (Sectioui 27, L. Lopez 78 -- Niang 47) . Group "B". Valencia - Rosenborg - 0:2 (Iversen 31, 58 ), Schalke - Chelsea - 0:0. Group "C". "Lazio" - "Werder" - 2:1 (Rocky 57, 68 - Diego 88 from pen.) , "Olympiacos" - "Real" - 0:0. Group "D". "Celtic" - "Benfica" - 1:0 (McGeady 45) , "Shakhtar" - "Milan" - 0:3 (Inzaghi 66, 90, Kaka 72) .

Group "A" I V N P M O

Group "B" I V N P M O

Group "C" I V N P M O

Group "D" I V N P M O

Andrey VDOVIN