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Thursday, April 14, 2005
Liverpool have deservedly clinched a place in the last four of the Champions League after heroically holding Juventus to a goalless draw on a memorable night in Turin.

In a game of nail-biting tension the Reds produced an impressively disciplined performance to shut out their hosts and preserve their 2-1 first leg advantage. At times it was backs to the wall stuff but Rafa's men passed the ball with precision and defended resolutely to set up a mouth-watering semi-final clash with Chelsea.

In a first half of few goalscoring opportunities the best chance fell to Zlatan Ibrahimovic after just eight minutes but thankfully he fired over from a central position six-yards from goal. When in possession Liverpool looked comfortable all night and after going in at the interval with their heads held high they came out after the break and almost snatched the lead through Baros. Latching on to a perfectly threaded through ball from Alonso the Czech striker got goal side of the Juve defence but with only the keeper to beat agonisingly rolled his shot wide of the post. At the opposite end Dudek saved superbly from an Emerson header, with was the home sides first effort on target. As the minutes ticked by the nerves became more and more frayed and Liverpool survived a major scare when Traore headed against his own post following a Juventus free-kick.

It was not all one way traffic though and with Cisse completing his amazing recovery from a broken leg by replacing Baros late in the second half the Reds continued to pose a threat on the counter-attack. Biscan headed over with seven minutes remaining but in the end it didn't matter. At the opposite end Juve couldn't find the key to unlock the Liverpool defence and the long-awaited final whistle was the signal for ecstatic scenes among the players and travelling fans.

This was an occasion to rank alongside any in this club's illustrious European history and every player in a red shirt deserves credit for the part they played in it.

Well done lads!
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