Loyal: Liverpool fans show their support in
Debrecen, but their patience will be severely tested now.
Harry Houdini might have been born here but the city did
not become a stage for Anfield’s escapologists on this
occasion.
Liverpool’s luck ran out here and this time all that talk of
miracles was silenced in a single sentence of Hungarian in the 29th
minute. ‘Fiorentina vezet egy-nullra,’ declared the stadium
announcer. Few needed a translator to realise the Italians had
taken the lead against Lyon in the corresponding Group E fixture,
thus all but rendering David Ngog’s goal an irrelevance.
A team that lifted the European Cup in 2005, so nearly did so
again two years later and ran Manchester United close to the
championship last season deserves better than to be undermined by a
lack of strength in depth.
One can only imagine how difficult and depressing it will be when
Fiorentina roll into Anfield a fortnight from now. Comfortable
Italian qualifiers against a team that should have strolled into
the last 16 but somehow made a mess of it.
If the supporters do turn up, it will be fascinating to see how
they respond to the sight of Benitez and a side that, particularly
after last season, had promised so much. The evidence so far would
suggest the fans remain behind their Spanish manager. A chorus of
You’ll Never Walk Alone
immediately followed the bitter disappointment of this exit, along
with an amusing declaration that they would now win the Europa
League final in Hamburg next May. But let’s see how they respond if
disappointment follows at Everton this weekend and Blackburn a week
after that.
Down and out: Rafa Benitez contemplates Liverpool's
failure as Steven Gerrard trudges off.
For what it’s worth, it owed something to that
revolutionary placenta treatment that Liverpool enjoyed their
second win in 11 matches last night.
Fabio Aurelio was among those who benefited from a trip to
Belgrade and it was the Brazilian who delivered the cross that
Jamie Carragher nodded down before Ngog struck from close
range.
So poor were Debrecen that they offered little in response, with
Ngog almost scoring a second with a long-range effort that forced a
fine save from Vukasin Poleksic.
News was spreading fast of events in Florence, where the
Italians hit the post twice in 30 seconds against a Lyon side who
had already qualified and were not putting up much of a fight.
But nobody expected news of a goal to be delivered in
quite the fashion it was — directly to every living soul inside the
Ferenc Puskas Stadium thanks to a stadium announcer who didn’t seem
to mind that it all but killed the game as a contest.
It was no surprise to see Debrecen almost score within a minute
of the announcement. No surprise to see Liverpool’s defenders
suffer a momentary lapse of concentration and allow Gergely Rudolf
to threaten with a header that bounced just wide.
It was no surprise to see the Hungarians go as close as they did
to scoring in the final few minutes. Lyon had not hit back with an
equaliser and Liverpool knew damn well it was never going to
come.
‘We could have won all the games we played,’ said Benitez
afterwards.
They could have and they should have. But they didn’t, and it is
now up to Liverpool’s manager to work out why.
