1991, the last time we turned around a first leg defeat

[jayjay]

Some questions we should ask ourselves

Can we stop them scoring? Like, er, Newcastle did last week

Heae we ever beaten them 1-0 in a CL Semi-Final? I seem to recall we did.

Have we beaten them 2-0 at Anfield in the recent past? Injuries or no, I believe the answer is yes.

Worst case, do they ever concede 3 goals in a game? Only aainst the 'mighty' Spurs barely a month ago (WITH Terry, Cech and Carvalho playing).

Finally, Have we ever scored 3 goals to win a European match in extremis? APART from Inter, Bruges, St Etienne, the Mark Walters one, Alaves, Olympiakos and Milan, of course.

Believe, folks, that's our job. Let's not get all wussy because a CL Semi-Final isn't panning out as a cosy, relaxed stroll in the park.

Some more reasons to believe

They should have smacked our arses last night and be going to Anfield with 2, even 3 goal margin. They fooked up big time

Pepe kept us in it. We all know keepers have a big say at this stage of the european cup and he's up for it and ready to be counted.

It's the european cup. Not our birth right, but our relationship with it brings a real belief among the fans and players alike.

Rafa's tactical influence in a one off situation coupled with a clearly defined target before us, means we'll be well tooled up and ready to battle.

Our squad offers so much more all over the pitch than in 05 bar lil Luis.

Been here before and passed with flying colours, experience counts for everything in these matters. You know a feeling of belonging.

Steven and Jamie won't have it any other way

[leftpeg]

It's just amazing how much of a knife edge is involved in these sorts of ties. If Cech hadn't made that save from Stevie and Pepe hadn't made that save from Lampard, we would be much happier with the loss. It's going to be very tough, but the lads know that it's all on the line on Tuesday, so it's going to be intense. There certainly won't be any room for error at the back. Anyway, it's not over yet.

[wavydavy]

I think we all need to get this in perspective. We stand at the threshold of a new era. Great manager, fans, new ground etc. We're in CL semi. We've earned another ****load of money and proved that 2005 was no fluke. Whether or not we make it through it should not be forgotten that our starting IX vs Chelsea cost approx £48 million. Chelsea's cost in excess of £180 million.
This advantage they have is soon to be addressed. I strongly suspect we're gonna have the last laugh in all this. I think Rafa has a very calm almost smug look on his face at press conferences these days, almost as if he knows more than he is letting on. Let us not forget that it wasn't so long ago we were wetting ourselves for knocking Brann ****ing Bergen out of Europe.

[Kopite_Colin]

We need everyone (I mean players ) to turn up. Sh*t or bust time. And Rafa needs to be brave. We only need 1 goal, so it doesn't matter whetehr we score it in the 1st min or in injury time. 1-0 is 1-0. We've only conceded 5 goals at home in the league all season. We've kept a clean sheet at home against them, and scored twice, something we've not done before. And we've beaten them in 2 semi-finals before. We need to be at it from the off. So we need 1 goal, But I don't want any "let's keep it tight" for the 1st 20 mins. Let's have these *******s by the throat before they have time to catch their breath.

Come on Reds!

YNWA

[johnnyfish]

Tom I think you have forgotten this match..............and of course the second leg result in 2004/05 season.........

Liverpool suffer Greek grilling

"This was a painful reality check in Piraeus. Olympiakos dismissed Liverpool with ease, the visitors' lacklustre display drowned amid a joyous cacophony at the final whistle. Liverpool were bullied in the air, embarrassed on the turf and appeared to lack the strong-arm spirit to revive, their zip still elusive when necessity demanded a more urgent approach late on. "

[Shaggy]

That wasn't a two-legged game though....they were group games.

[anfieldanfield]

Is right, Istanbul is the kind of result that happens once in a generation. Listening to some people on here it sounds like something we can conjur up at will.

****ing hell lads.

We dont need a 'miracle' of Istanbul proportions, we dont even need a 'miracle'. We need to win 1-0 at Anfield on a European night against a major rival.

Hardly impossible.

[Owen20]

It's a horrible postion to be in because if we concede we are out.

That's the thing that worries me Tom.

We need an early goal in order to have any chance of progressing, IMO.

We need to attack.

Chelsea dont like it "up em"

It's **** or bust!

[Kopite_Colin]

Chelsea are just another St Etienne, Olympiakos waiting to happen. 3-1 lads...it'll be 3-1.... I'm telling you. We slipped in the same situation against Benfica..Rafa won't let it happen twice.

[enema of the state]

all to play for

1-0 and pens will do - theyll be cacking their cockney nappies if we level the tie. reina is a penalty specialist.

the crowd will be our 12th man - forget the effect on chavski, lets work on that ref like never before. chelski, good as they are - are dirty. carvalho in particular does sneaky fouls all the time. with the right amount of "pressure" the ref only needs to call one for a pen and its game on

PLUS - we wont play that badly again.

i predict well start with pennant on the right, crouch/kuyt up front, SG off and xabi in holding MF.

essien might add to their team but i dont think ballack does.

if we play to within 10% of our best form then well progress. if we dont well go out and deservedly

[Craig_H]

I think we all need to get this in perspective. We stand at the threshold of a new era. Great manager, fans, new ground etc. We're in CL semi. We've earned another ****load of money and proved that 2005 was no fluke. Whether or not we make it through it should not be forgotten that our starting IX vs Chelsea cost approx £48 million. Chelsea's cost in excess of £180 million.
This advantage they have is soon to be addressed. I strongly suspect we're gonna have the last laugh in all this. I think Rafa has a very calm almost smug look on his face at press conferences these days, almost as if he knows more than he is letting on. Let us not forget that it wasn't so long ago we were wetting ourselves for knocking Brann ****ing Bergen out of Europe.

Spot on mate.

[Craig_H]

Chelsea are just another St Etienne, Olympiakos waiting to happen. 3-1 lads...it'll be 3-1.... I'm telling you. We slipped in the same situation against Benfica..Rafa won't let it happen twice.

I'm sure Rafa didnt mean to 'let' it happen at Stamford Bridge either!

[enema of the state]

It's a statistic not an opinion.

an incorrect one

[enema of the state]

if we concede we are out.

some of us have heard that said before

if you want to win the european cup, its a situation you need to deal with. i think the current side have shown they have the guns to do it.

[JRC]

I think we all need to get this in perspective. We stand at the threshold of a new era. Great manager, fans, new ground etc. We're in CL semi. We've earned another ****load of money and proved that 2005 was no fluke. Whether or not we make it through it should not be forgotten that our starting IX vs Chelsea cost approx £48 million. Chelsea's cost in excess of £180 million.
This advantage they have is soon to be addressed. I strongly suspect we're gonna have the last laugh in all this. I think Rafa has a very calm almost smug look on his face at press conferences these days, almost as if he knows more than he is letting on. Let us not forget that it wasn't so long ago we were wetting ourselves for knocking Brann ****ing Bergen out of Europe.

That would be why we lost - I blame Rafa's tactics of 4-3-1. Don't they teach kids archaic and unwieldy number systems at school any more? How on earth do you work out what year films or TV programmes were made when the credits roll?

Your overall point is right though - that we should be contemplating only reaching the CL semi-final as a season of failure says a lot about how far we have come recently - unless we continue to set our expectations against the glory days of 20 years ago. With Rafa, invesntmnt, ground etc, we are undeniably in as strong a position as a club as we have been for a long time. That doesn't mean we will inevitably go on to Nos. 6/7 & 19 next year, but it sure as hell means it's more likely than say 5 years ago.