Saturday, August 02, 2008

8 Things You Need To Know About Liverpool's Champions League Opponents Standard Liege

This morning's Champions League third qualifying round draw paired Liverpool with Belgians Standard Liege. Here's your essential guide:

1) Like Liverpool, Standard Liege are known as ‘The Reds’ because of their home strip.

2) The club was formed in 1900 by a group of the College of Saint-Servais in Liege. The prefix ‘Standard’ came about because French side Standard de Paris was popular at the time.

3) Standard Liege reached the final of the 1982 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup where they played Barcelona at the Nou Camp. Barca won 2-1

4) Ahead of that final, other teams in Standard’s league were allegedly urged take it easy while playing them so they would be fit and rested for the Cup Winners’ Cup final.

5) In 2007/08 they won their first Belgian League title in 25 years with three games left. They had a unbeaten run of 31 matches on their way to the title.

6) The only English footballer ever to have played for Standard Liege is Mike Small, who turned out for Luton Town and Peterborough in the early 1980s before joining Liege, then West Ham and Charlton later in his career.

7) Standard Liege met Liverpool in the second round of the Cup Winners Cup in the 1965/66 season. Liverpool won the tie 5-2 on aggregate.

8) Back in 1978 Liege met Manchester City in the Uefa Cup. City humped them 5-0.

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