Long before the Champions League was even a concept and long, long before companies such as Vodafone were around to sponsor it, Liverpool learnt a supreme lesson from this kind of fixture - you do not stake everything on the first leg.
Thirty years ago, the first round of the European Cup saw the champions of England drawn against the champions of Europe in a straight knockout. It was the kind of fixture that Silvio Berlusconi, sometime prime minister of Italy, full-time president of AC Milan, would cite when forcing through the Champions League. It was painful seeing the big beasts of the game culled so early.
The champions of England versus the champions of Europe. It sounds impossibly glamorous now but in September 1978 it meant Nottingham Forest lining up against Liverpool at the City Ground.
In 1978, Liverpool conceded early, as they did at Arsenal last night and against Chelsea in last year's semi-final. Unlike in the two more recent matches, however, Liverpool panicked; they threw more and more bodies forward to retrieve a game that, with a second leg to come at Anfield, did not really need rescuing. Then Garry Birtles scored again and a manageable 1-0 defeat had become the most invariably fatal of first-leg results, a 2-0 defeat.
Kenny Dalglish will tell you that Liverpool lost because they approached the match as if it were a normal domestic fixture. This is a mistake that Rafael Benitez has never made. Even when Liverpool are playing Derby, you feel there is one corner of his mind forever straying towards Europe.
When the two semi-finals with Chelsea are recalled, it is always for Anfield's wall of sound, louder even than the noises that greeted the triumphs of Paisley or Shankly, which appeared fatally to unnerve Chelsea. However, had Jose Mourinho arrived on Merseyside on the back of a significant victory - and last year his instinctive caution ensured Chelsea squandered an opportunity to knock Liverpool out cold at Stamford Bridge - it would not have mattered what noises the crowd made.
It says everything about Benitez that despite losing on all his three previous visits to Arsenal, Liverpool reserved their best performance here for when the European Cup was at stake, rather than mere league points.
His midfield, sturdily anchored by Javier Mascherano and Xabi Alonso, drove Cesc Fabregas, the hero of Milan, deeper and deeper into his own half, where he appeared to be enveloped by frustration.
So, too, did Benitez. When Steven Gerrard misplaced a simple free-kick, Benitez turned his back and unleashed a stream of wholly untypical invective. Liverpool co-owner George Gillett may have been trapped on the far side of the Atlantic by heavy snow but Benitez seemed to know how much of his reputation was staked on this fixture. When Dirk Kuyt slid in the precious away goal, Benitez sat impassively before leaping up to issue more instructions; his essential coldness revealed.
His counterpart, Arsene Wenger, ended the evening watching on his haunches, also deep in thought. Just as victory in the San Siro was not beyond him, it will not be on Merseyside either.
All around the Emirates Stadium are written the years commemorating seasons in which Arsenal have won silverware. Wenger might have glanced at 1989, when the Arsenal of Smith and Thomas, Adams and Dixon came to Anfield and won the title with a 2-0 victory. Maybe it is time to invoke the spirit of George Graham.
Thirty years ago, the first round of the European Cup saw the champions of England drawn against the champions of Europe in a straight knockout. It was the kind of fixture that Silvio Berlusconi, sometime prime minister of Italy, full-time president of AC Milan, would cite when forcing through the Champions League. It was painful seeing the big beasts of the game culled so early.
The champions of England versus the champions of Europe. It sounds impossibly glamorous now but in September 1978 it meant Nottingham Forest lining up against Liverpool at the City Ground.
In 1978, Liverpool conceded early, as they did at Arsenal last night and against Chelsea in last year's semi-final. Unlike in the two more recent matches, however, Liverpool panicked; they threw more and more bodies forward to retrieve a game that, with a second leg to come at Anfield, did not really need rescuing. Then Garry Birtles scored again and a manageable 1-0 defeat had become the most invariably fatal of first-leg results, a 2-0 defeat.
Kenny Dalglish will tell you that Liverpool lost because they approached the match as if it were a normal domestic fixture. This is a mistake that Rafael Benitez has never made. Even when Liverpool are playing Derby, you feel there is one corner of his mind forever straying towards Europe.
When the two semi-finals with Chelsea are recalled, it is always for Anfield's wall of sound, louder even than the noises that greeted the triumphs of Paisley or Shankly, which appeared fatally to unnerve Chelsea. However, had Jose Mourinho arrived on Merseyside on the back of a significant victory - and last year his instinctive caution ensured Chelsea squandered an opportunity to knock Liverpool out cold at Stamford Bridge - it would not have mattered what noises the crowd made.
It says everything about Benitez that despite losing on all his three previous visits to Arsenal, Liverpool reserved their best performance here for when the European Cup was at stake, rather than mere league points.
His midfield, sturdily anchored by Javier Mascherano and Xabi Alonso, drove Cesc Fabregas, the hero of Milan, deeper and deeper into his own half, where he appeared to be enveloped by frustration.
So, too, did Benitez. When Steven Gerrard misplaced a simple free-kick, Benitez turned his back and unleashed a stream of wholly untypical invective. Liverpool co-owner George Gillett may have been trapped on the far side of the Atlantic by heavy snow but Benitez seemed to know how much of his reputation was staked on this fixture. When Dirk Kuyt slid in the precious away goal, Benitez sat impassively before leaping up to issue more instructions; his essential coldness revealed.
His counterpart, Arsene Wenger, ended the evening watching on his haunches, also deep in thought. Just as victory in the San Siro was not beyond him, it will not be on Merseyside either.
All around the Emirates Stadium are written the years commemorating seasons in which Arsenal have won silverware. Wenger might have glanced at 1989, when the Arsenal of Smith and Thomas, Adams and Dixon came to Anfield and won the title with a 2-0 victory. Maybe it is time to invoke the spirit of George Graham.
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