[UEFA Champions League] Liverpool out of UCL !

AEW5001 SG

17/09/09, Thu Morning (SIN/HK time)

2:45am, "Live" on mioTV ch62

Poolman SG

So sad ..... no live telecast on my starhub cable ..... farking asss Mio Tv .

Poolman SG

Surely win , maybe 5-0 .... This Debreceni not world class team , not even the standard of Wigan and WBA ....

AEW5001 SG

once they played each other for 1 leg, we will know where that VSC stand.

longchiambutz SG

anything less than a WIN will be a surprise!

Googooboyy SG

Debrecen shouldn't be taken lightly. BUT judging by Red's form at home, this season, nothing less than a win should be expected.

Go Reds~!

AEW5001 SG

Lucas Leiva insists Liverpool are wary of a potential upset against Debreceni ahead of Wednesday's Champions League opener.

The Hungarian champions will make their European Cup debut at Anfield - and Lucas admits they are somewhat of an unknown quantity.

This, he claims, means the Reds cannot afford to underestimate their opponents.

"If they are playing in the Champions League they will have some quality," said the Brazilian.

"Maybe they will know more about us than we know about them so that makes them dangerous.

"Our staff will have been working to get videos of them and we will be ready."

Lucas has enjoyed memorable European runs during his first two seasons on Merseyside - but both have ended in defeat to Chelsea.

The 22-year-old hopes 2009-10 will be the year he finally adds his name to the list of Liverpool's many European Cup winners.

"It is the most important competition in the world and every player wants to play in the Champions League," he said.

"We know how our supporters feel about watching the team in these matches - it is very special.

"The defeat to Chelsea in the quarter-final last season still hurts and of course they beat us in the semis the year before.

"We have got so close to the final and hopefully this year we can finally get there."

Poolman SG

Looking at Chelsea's win , MU's win away ..... English teams are too strong for the rest of the European's lower league now .... even the likes of strong Ukraine oso cannot tahan now . Serbia and Croatia also .....

Duh mention countries like Hungary , Cyprus and Belarus . etc ...

Poolman SG

Debreceni were a very good team in Hungary .... won a bit of $$$ from them last season .

iceFatboy SG

Torres Hat-trick..

Poolman SG

wtf only 1-0 ?

Dirk Kuyt .

Asian handicap -3 balls ... those handicapped died ! Hahahah

AEW5001 SG

Rafael Benitez believes winning was all that mattered after Liverpool began their Champions League campaign with a narrow 1-0 win over Debrecen.

Hungarian champions but insisted the three points were all that counted after his side were restricted to Dirk Kuyt's solitary first-half goal.

"We have confidence and we are winning games now which is important for the players," Benitez told his post-match press conference.

"To start the Champions League group stage with three points was always the most important thing and hopefully we'll see better things in the next game.

"We had some chances, we didn't take them and as a result we put ourselves under pressure at the end."

Despite falling behind in first-half stoppage time Debrecen's resilient display stopped the Reds from adding to their margin of victory after the break.

Benitez admits he was well aware the Hungarians would come to Anfield to defend and felt a second goal would have made all the difference to his side's performance.

"It was a game against a side who were working hard and were well organised," he said. "We scored too late in the first-half, so it was more difficult and at the end of the game it was the same.

"We were in control in the first half and they didn't have too many options. The difference was that we couldn't score the second goal. But I am really pleased because in the end we won.

"They have good players and are well organised. We knew it could be difficult. I said before we'd have to see how they played against a top side and they showed they are a good team.

"We knew we had to score an early goal and change the game. We didn't and if that happens the other team keeps working hard until the end."

Asked if he felt his side were still struggling to find their best form, the boss said: "I don't think so. When you don't have too much confidence like before, you need to win. But we are winning games in a row now.

"The problem is that if you play against this type of team at Anfield and don't score early, they are going to press for every ball from the first minute and because of that it wasn't easy."

AEW5001 SG

wtf only 1-0 ?

Dirk Kuyt .

Asian handicap -3 balls ... those handicapped died ! Hahahah

1-0 is still considered a win for us

man u n chelsea only managed a 1-0 win as well

Poolman SG

highlights .... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-eBtcm8e9sU&feature=related

AEW5001 SG

Pepe Reina hailed Dirk Kuyt's knack for scoring in the Champions League after the forward struck again in the Reds' 1-0 win over Debrecen.

The Dutchman became the joint-third highest European Cup goalscorer in the club's history with his 45th minute winner and the Spanish stopper admits he has grown accustomed to seeing him on target on the big occasion.

"It seems like it's his competition," said Reina. "He always scores in the Champions League, he's got into the habit and let's hope he keeps on scoring a lot of goals. He did a good job tonight."

The Reds dominated throughout their encounter with the Hungarian minnows but failed to build on their one-goal advantage. Reina admits it wasn't the easiest of nights for Liverpool but feels they will step it up a gear in time for their next Group E encounter, away to Fiorentina.

"It was a difficult game, we knew they'd go into it with a lot of motivation as it was their first match in the Champions League," said the goalkeeper.

"They didn't make things easy for us but we've fulfilled our objective, which was to win and now we can look forward. We've a difficult trip ahead of us to [ACF] Fiorentina and we need to try to get the points there.

"It will be tough – Fiorentina play in one of the top leagues but then you look at all the games in the Champions League and there's not a team you can look at and say: 'We'll beat them easily'."

AEW5001 SG

Rafael Benitez believes Liverpool will head to Fiorentina in buoyant mood following their Matchday One success against Debrecen in the Champions League.

The Reds boss accepts that the 1-0 win against the Hungarian side won't go down as an Anfield classic, but feels the three points will put them in good stead for the trip to Florence in just under two weeks' time.

"This was always a dangerous game because before people were talking about us maybe scoring eight goals or something like this," said the Reds' boss.

"But we knew that in Europe it is not easy, especially at this level.

"They have won their league four times in the last five seasons because they have some quality so it was important just to get three points.

"It was important just to win and now we can approach the next game with more confidence.

"We are winning games in a row now so hopefully confidence in the dressing room will be higher."

Despite dominating throughout the match the Reds could not add to Dirk Kuyt's strike on the stroke of half-time. Benitez felt his side should have scored more from the whole host of chances they created but was also keen to pay tribute to Debrecen's rearguard action.

He said: "You have to take your chances and then this type of game would be easy.

"You have to give credit to them. They were well organised and they were working very hard, pressing every single ball. But they also made some mistakes in defence and we didn't score – that was the difference for me.

"We had to be careful, especially at the end. We were expected to score a lot of goals and we had the chances but couldn't score.

"Credit to them they were working very hard and trying to go forward, especially in the last 20 minutes.

"They were attacking with three and four players at the same time and the midfield really started supporting the attack.

"It was a little bit nervous at the end because when you know you have done everything to win but at the end you are defending a corner in the last minute it's always a little bit nervous.

"It would only have taken one mistake from a good counter attack, but the positive is that we got three points and we can look forward to the next group games with more confidence."

Asked about Kuyt's contribution after he became the club's third highest European Cup goalscorer in history, Benitez added: "Kuyt is a good striker, we know that. He can play on the right or in the middle and he always likes to get into the box and look for that bounce or second ball.

"We've see him score goals like this before and hopefully we’ll see him score these in the future too."

AEW5001 SG

Dirk Kuyt has his sights on Ian Rush and Steven Gerrard after becoming the club's third highest European Cup goalscorer ever on Wednesday night.

The Holland international's winner against Debrecen was his 12th for Liverpool in Europe's premier club competition - the same as legendary midfielder Terry McDermott.

Gerrard (28) and Rush (14) are the only players with more - but Kuyt admits he is desperate to keep his knack of scoring on the continental stage.

"I didn't know about the record but I do now," the 29-year-old told Liverpoolfc.tv after his man-of-the-match performance.

"It's always nice to be important for the club, especially when it comes to Europe.

"Champions League games are always special, so I'm happy I scored again on Wednesday and now I'll try to keep going.

"What I would like to do is become more and more important for the team and try to do my best. I'm happy with my performances so far this season but I need to keep going.

"I'm feeling really confident. I've played the last two games in a slightly different position but for me that doesn't matter. I just want to be important for the team."

Next up for Liverpool is a trip to West Ham this weekend - and Kuyt admits they will travel to Upton Park with confidence renewed after recovering from a mixed start with three consecutive victories.

He said: "Everyone knows we had a bad start, losing against Spurs and Villa, so we had to try and get the confidence back, try to change things.

"That's what we've done by winning three games in a row, and now we're looking forward to Saturday.

"Every game is difficult - everyone knows the Premier League is a very hard league. But we have the quality to win these kinds of games on Saturday."

With Chelsea facing high-flying Tottenham this weekend as well as the Manchester derby, Liverpool have a great chance to make up ground on the front-runners.

But Kuyt insists he and his teammates are not paying much attention to what is going on elsewhere.

"At this stage we just have to look at ourselves, win our games and then in a couple of months see where we are," he said."

Elephant18 SG

Liverpool won 1-0 at anfield against Debrecci. It is a very positive move. anyway I did not watch the match. it was 2.30 am Singapore time. difficult bcos need to work so must rest well. anyway I do not have a cable TV so cannot watch Liverpool matches. I am a Liverpool fan but upset there is no online sites where U can watch free EPL. Anyone knows. Do email to me [email protected]

AEW5001 SG

30/9/09, Wed

"live" on MioTV ch61 at 2:45am

Bus&Soccer l0v3r (VO3x 1) SG

he

will score hat trick ma?