“Liverpool’s dismal season ended as it began, with a whimper, as they were second best in a goalless draw at relegated Hull. If this was to be Rafael Benitez’s last match in charge – and his future remains very much in doubt – it would be a sad end to his Anfield reign. Hull had the better chances with Mark Cullen missing two close-range chances in the first half, while the closest Liverpool came was when Alberto Aquilani hit the crossbar just before the interval and Steven Gerrard a post moments before the final whistle.” (ESPN)

“After a woeful season, many Liverpool fans would be forgiven for wanting to see the back of a manager whose sole CV highlight in six years is one implausible achievement in Istanbul. But on Merseyside, they don’t and it’s perplexing. That Rafa Benítez got Liverpool to another Champions League final, won an FA Cup and finished second last season should not cloud the matter that he has had ample time and funds to forge a regular title-challenging squad. Seventh, if that’s where they finish this season, is a woeful effort for a side boasting Fernando Torres, Steven Gerrard, Pepe Reina, Javier Mascherano, Glen Johnson and Jamie Carragher” (WSC)

“Liverpool’s parent company posted a huge loss of £54.9m for the year ended on 31 July 2009 as debt interest payments and severance costs hit hard. The loss was 34% worse than 2008’s figure as £40.1m went on servicing the club’s £351.4m debt to Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) and US firm Wachovia. Pay-offs to senior staff, including former chief executive Rick Parry, accounted for a further £4.3m.” (BBC)

Benitez meeting offers no hints to Liverpool future
“The future direction of Liverpool hasn’t become any clearer after the first in a series of meetings between Rafael Benitez, chairman Martin Broughton and managing director Christian Purslow on Thursday.” (ESPN)

“All great relationships come to an end, the natural course having run as far as it can. Sometimes they start passionately and brightly and quickly burn away to nothingness. Sometimes, they are a slowly burning and taut affair that consumes all within them in a supernova of passion oblivious to all around them. Occasionally, despite saying the opposite, things simply aren’t working. The public face presents a lie, when everything behind the scenes falls apart.” (EPL Talk)

“General Custer, in his last stand, was ambushed by overwhelming forces. Rafael Benitez might perceive a similar scenario when he barrels to the dugout at Anfield today for what is likely to be his last stand at a stadium where he has given wing to so many dreams.” (TimesOnline)

“Atletico Madrid striker Diego Forlan scored against Liverpool for the second time in a week to end the Merseysiders’ dreams of a third European final in five years. The former Manchester United forward, who hit the only goal in the first leg, stabbed home the crucial extra-time away goal which booked their place in May’s Europa.” (ESPN)

Liverpool 2 – 1 Atletico Madrid (agg 2 – 2)
“Diego Forlan struck an extra-time away goal to end Liverpool’s Europa League hopes and book Atletico Madrid’s place in the final against Fulham on 12 May. Trailing 1-0 from the first leg in Spain, Liverpool levelled the tie when Alberto Aquilani converted Yossi Benayoun’s cross with a fine finish. And they added a second early in extra time through Benayoun’s half-volley.” (BBC)

Liverpool 2-1 Atletico Madrid – Video Highlights and Recap – Europa League – Thursday, April 29, 2010
“Liverpool hosted Atletico Madrid in the UEFA Europa League Semifinals second leg on Thursday, April 29, 2010. If they were to advance, they would meet Fulham in final with two English clubs. Atletico Madrid had a 1-0 lead from the first leg and would advance with a draw or a 2-1 score with an away goal. The match took place at Anfield where Liverpool traditionally have been very strong.” (The 90th Minute)

Peter Paul Rubens. A Peasant Dance
“Two goals from captain Steven Gerrard, a first Liverpool strike for Maxi Rodriguez and a late effort from Ryan Babel relegated Burnley from the Premier League and kept alive the Merseysiders’ distant hopes of finishing fourth. With two matches to play the Clarets cannot now catch 17th-placed West Ham and return to the Championship after just one season in the top flight.” (ESPN)

Burnley 0-4 Liverpool – Recap and Video Highlights – EPL – Sunday, April 25, 2010
“Liverpool still had slim hopes of Champions League football for next season but needed a win at Burnley. The two teams met at the Turf Moor on Sunday, April 25, 2010. Burnley have all but been relegated while Liverpool is in one of the Europa League spots before the match. A win for Liverpool would move them within two points of 4th place.” (The 90th Minute)

“Liverpool failed to gain any reward for their valiant efforts in making the long-haul trip to Madrid as a familiar foe gave Atletico a 1-0 victory in their Europa League semi-final first leg. Former Manchester United striker Diego Forlan hit a scrappy winner in only the ninth minute but the tie is far from over and even without an away goal Rafael Benitez’s side will be optimistic of overturning the result at Anfield next week.” (ESPN)

” Fulham and Liverpool are up against it tonight. Not because they face the might of Hamburg and Atlético Madrid, but because some ash has erupted out of a volcano in Iceland. The English teams have travelled across Europe by plane, train and automobile this week, and, scientifically speaking, they face an uphill journey to the Europa League final.” (WSC)

“Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez has warned critics not to judge striker David Ngog by Fernando Torres’ standards and backed the youngster to continue improving. Ngog is likely to see plenty of action between now and the end of the season with Torres sidelined by a second knee operation in three months and he responded to his second successive start in the Spaniard’s absence by scoring a well-taken goal in last night’s comfortable 3-0 win over West Ham at Anfield.” (ESPN)

Liverpool 3 – 0 West Ham United
“Liverpool cruised to a comfortable 3-0 victory over West Ham at Anfield to keep their faint Champions League hopes alive and leave the Hammers with three games to secure their top-flight survival. Former West Ham midfielder Yossi Benayoun and David Ngog gave the hosts a 2-0 lead in a low-key first half and goalkeeper Robert Green’s unfortunate own goal finished off his side.” (ESPN)

Liverpool 3-0 West Ham United – Recap and Video Highlights – EPL – Monday, April 19, 2010
“Liverpool hosted West Ham United in a Monday night match in the English Premier League on Monday, April 19, 2010. West Ham remains in the relegation battle but would likely be safe with one more win. Liverpool is in contention for one of the Europa League spots but too far back to make it into the top four. The two teams played at Anfield in front of over 37,000.” (The 90th Minute)

“Sir Bobby Charlton kept a roomful of people spellbound yesterday with stories of his life in football. The pick of the bunch was about Bill Shankly and the first day of the 1967-68 season. It was seven in the morning and Liverpool’s squad had spent the night at a hotel in Lymm prior to visiting Manchester City. Alone in the lobby, Shankly was itching for conversation. On hearing from the porter that ‘Bobby Charlton lives round here’, he headed out.” (WSC)

“Liverpool badly missed Fernando Torres as they dropped two more points in their increasingly forlorn pursuit of fourth place in the Premier League. The Reds had numerous opportunities to beat their fellow Europa League semi-finalists Fulham but, without the cutting edge of the injured Torres, drew a blank at Anfield.” (ESPN)

Liverpool run into a Fulham’s Champions League roadblock
“Liverpool lost ground in their pursuit of the fourth Champions League place this afternoon after being held to a goalless draw at home to Fulham. Rafael Benítez’s team dominated from start to finish against opponents who parked the proverbial bus at Anfield, but the thought that this could be a dress rehearsal for the Europa League final is chilling.” (Guardian)

Liverpool 0 – 0 Fulham
“Liverpool’s hopes of qualifying for the Champions League took another huge blow as they failed to break down resolute Fulham despite dominating possession. Alberto Aquilani’s early overhead kick was easily collected by Mark Schwarzer.” (BBC)

Liverpool 0-0 Fulham – Recap and Video Highlights – 11 April 2010
“Liverpool hosted Fulham needing a win to keep their Champions League hopes alive. They trail Manchester City for 4th place and would likely need to win all their remaining matches to have a realistic shot at overtaking them. Fulham are in the middle of the table and focusing primarily on the Europa League. Liverpool would be the favorites heading into the match but were without striker Fernando Torres.” (The 90th Minute)

“What a well crafted win for Rafa Benitez’s men. I mean, take a bow. For all the slagging the manager and the team went through last weekend, this response was very much-needed for some reassurance. And the fact that it has come against a solid Benfica side, who are no pushovers, makes the win very much enjoyable.” (BigFourZa!)

“Liverpool hosted Benfica in the second leg of the UEFA Europa League Quarterfinals on Thursday, April 8, 2010. The winner would advance to the semifinals and Benfica had a 2-1 lead from the first leg. Benfica have had strong performances on the road in the Europa League but going to Anfield would be their toughest test of the competition.” (The 90th Minute)

“Famous looks are the hallmark of great movies, soap operas and lately serial dramas. Looks can say so much. No words are needed, the overriding emotions are clear, the recipient understands exactly what is being said, without the need to actually say it.” (Just Football)

“Rewind twelve months and Jamie Carragher was looking back on what had been a prosperous March for Liverpool, having played every minute of the Reds’ four successive victories against Sunderland, Real Madrid, Manchester United and Aston Villa. With fifteen goals scored – including four against both United and Madrid – and just one conceded, Rafael Benitez had just signed a new five-year deal, Steven Gerrard had just netted a hat-trick in the 5-0 mauling of Villa and the boys from Anfield were just a point off top spot in the Premier League.” (ESPN)

“Europa League fixtures/results, Europa League fixtures/results (ESPN Soccernet). The Quarter-finals of the 09/10 Europa League begin on Thursday, 1st April, with the second leg matches a week later. Of the 8 clubs still alive, there are 2 English clubs (Fulham and Liverpool), 2 German clubs (Hamburg and Wolfsburg), 2 Spanish clubs (Atletico Madrid and Valencia), a Belgian club (Standard Liege), and a Portuguese club (Benfica).” (billsportsmaps)

Claude Gellée, Les adieux d’Énée et Didon à Carthage (1676)
“A scintillating first-half performance set the tone for a one-sided Liverpool victory over Sunderland at Anfield that kept the Reds in the race for Champions League qualification. Fernando Torres struck a brilliant opener in the third minute and Glen Johnson’s deflected strike made it 2-0 at the end of a first half in which the hosts could easily have scored six.” (ESPN)

Liverpool 3 Sunderland 0: match report
“Springtime, and the shackles are off. Two goals from Fernando Torres, a fortuitous strike from Glen Johnson and a performance full of verve and panache gave a free-styling, freewheeling Liverpool, for so long laboured and unlovable, victory over Sunderland and cast Rafael Benitez’s side back into the thick of the race for the Champions League.” (Telegraph)

Fernando Torres’s touches of genius reignite the Liverpool challenge
“Fernando Torres struck a majestic goal as Liverpool announced their intention to chase Tottenham Hotspur all the way for a Champions League qualification place in emphatic style against Sunderland this afternoon. Their display was so commanding it allowed Anfield to mock the moment that had threatened to encapsulate their turbulent campaign.” (Guardian)

Liverpool v Sunderland – as it happened
“Kick-off is at 4pm. Sixth-placed Liverpool have won their last seven at Anfield and need to keep winning if they’re to maintain their push for fourth in the table and the place in the Champions League qualifying rounds that goes with it.” (Guardian)

Liverpool 3 – 0 Sunderland
“Torres opened the scoring with a spectacular strike in only the third minute, cutting inside Michael Turner and curling a shot into the top corner. Glen Johnson added a second with a shot that deflected off Turner then turned provider for Torres to hook home again. Craig Gordon saved well from Daniel Agger and Maxi Rodriguez to maintain some respectability for Sunderland.” (BBC)

Liverpool 3-0 Sunderland – Recap and Video Highlights – English Premier League – Sunday, March 28, 2010
“Liverpool hosted Sunderland in the English Premier League on Sunday, March 28, 2010 needing a win to keep their Champions League hopes alive. They are several points back of Tottenham Hotspur (who are in 4th place) and realistically need to win almost all of their remaining matches to have a chance at 4th place. Sunderland are above the relegation zone and need another win or two to guarantee their survival.” (The 90th Minute)

“Watching Steven Gerrard’s body language this season, you’d be forgiven for thinking he was a man condemned. And in some ways, perhaps he is. Out of the title race by December, FA Cup and Champions League runs ended prematurely, and sidelined at intervals by groin and hamstring injuries, it’s understandable Gerrard could be feeling a little sorry for himself.” (WSC)

“Somewhere deep in the bowels of Anfield there is a timer ticking down. That timer shows about 100 days on it now, and tomorrow it will show about 99, and sometime this July the timer will hit zero. At that point, a bell will ring and Liverpool Football Club will have to begin a massive process of undoing the horrendous financial mistakes of the Rafa Benitez era. Sometime this July a $100 million loan payment will come due, and with no Champions League money coming in for the 2010/11 season, no cache of funds sitting in the bank and no prospect of future earnings to be found, Liverpool owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett will have to start selling their big names.” (EPL Talk)

“After a season in which Liverpool narrowly missed out on the English Premiership title, it seems astonishing that the Reds, following their 2-1 loss to Manchester United on Sunday, are all but finished in the race for the final Champions League spot.” (SI)

“Babel lofted the clearance from deep inside Liverpool’s half. The ball somehow latched on to Torres’ homing beacon. The defender let it bounce. Torres ate it up like a starved Bengal tiger. He kept the other defender just at bay, picked his moment and flicked the ball over the sliding keeper. The ball went softly into the net. Liverpool were up 2-0.” (EPL Talk)

“Longtime reader(s?) of this blog will know that I have something of a soft spot for films that don’t really give much of a damn about plot or story. I may be the only person who seriously considers Le Mans (1971, D: Lee Katzin/Steve McQueen; see article on the film here) every time he tries to assemble a top ten list of films in his head. I am often drawn to films which illuminate action and motion and exteriority.” (Running Downhill), (Must Read Soccer)

“‘Remember Portsmouth’ was Rafa’s rallying call before last week’s game at Wigan. The rationale being, you’d imagine, that by invoking painful memories of that 2-0 defeat in December, Liverpool’s players would never dare tolerate such ignominy again. Unfortunately though, they took the manager’s words a little too literally, performing in much the same way they did at Fratton Park. That is, lumbering about the field with all the precision of a pensioner who’s forgotten where he left his glasses.” (WSC)

“I’m the fan who demands my one year in denial. I cling to the hopes of last season, refusing to believe something can’t be salvaged from this one (as the definition of salvage changes from Can we still finish top four? to Can we still finish top six? Top seven?) With my team so plagued by injury and other abrupt halts to any momentum, I’ve looked to those few inspiring performances to show me that a run of great form is on its way.” (EPL Talk)

1465 Sandro Botticelli, Mardochai lamenting before the gates of the palace
“Just when Lyons’ heroics in the Bernabeu had seemed to cast Liverpool’s Champions League elimination at that club’s hands in a more sympathetic light, Lille provided a reminder of precisely where Rafael Benitez’s side stands in the European scheme of things last night.” (Independent)

Eden Hazard’s late goal for Lille leaves Liverpool with plenty to do
“Lille are known as the Mastiffs and an unnerved Liverpool retreated from their lair nursing a nasty bite. No matter that Eden Hazard’s late, wickedly dipping thoroughly elusive, free-kick appeared flukey; it gave Rudi Garcia’s team a deserved first-leg lead.” (Guardian)

Lille vs. Liverpool
(footytube)

“Henry Ford. You wouldn’t want him on your pub quiz team but he certainly knew how to run a business. It must go forward. It must be evolving and improving constantly. Football clubs are the same. Everyone knows Ford’s pithy history quote, but he regularly expanded on the subject to great effect. ‘We don’t want tradition,’ he said. ‘We want to live in the present and the only history worth a tinker’s damn is the history we make today.’” (Daily Mail)

Le Sacrifice de Polyxène, Jean Cousin le Père ou le Fils
“Wigan striker Hugo Rodallega’s eighth Premier League goal of the season put a huge dent in Liverpool’s top-four aspirations at the DW Stadium. The Colombia international volleyed home Emmerson Boyce’s 35th-minute cross after Dirk Kuyt had needlessly given away possession close to his own penalty area. Liverpool showed little of the quality required for a place in the Champions League once Fernando Torres had hit a post in the eighth minute and the Latics were well worth their victory.” (ESPN)

Gerrard in hot water following Marriner incident
“Steven Gerrard’s conduct is under scrutiny on Tuesday morning but Rafael Benitez insists he did not see the incident in which his captain is alleged to have made a crude gesture towards referee Andre Marriner during Liverpool’s defeat to Wigan. A photo of Gerrard’s alleged insult adorns the back page of multiple newspapers in England, with reports indicating the midfielder could be the subject of disciplinary action from the Football Association. Gerrard also appeared to mouth an obscenity after being booked for a challenge on James McCarthy.” (ESPN)

Rafael Benítez: Liverpool ‘played without intelligence’
“Rafael Benítez cut a dejected figure as Liverpool’s Champions League ambitions suffered a serious setback with a 1-0 defeat at Wigan Athletic last night, though he mustered enough venom to condemn his players for the attitude and lack of character they displayed at the DW Stadium. ‘We didn’t show the right attitude and even though we worked harder in the second half, we played without game intelligence,’ complained the Liverpool manager.” (Guardian)

Fan Diary #28 – Liverpool at Wigan: Give Me Some Triangles
“Last night I hunted down a clip on my 501 goals DVD. It’s Liverpool’s Craig Johnston talking sometime in the 80s about Liverpool’s approach…” (EPL Talk)

You’ve heard this story before
“Honestly, the worst thing about losing a match at such a vital part of the season is to move on and do a damn write-up about it. And having endured the travails numerous times before never makes it easier, but at times like these role-playing as a critic warrants my presence. To say Liverpool played badly is an understatement. No excuse today. We had the main men we always needed. And yet to blow it off even as push comes to shove is an utter disappointment.” (BigFourZa)

Wigan Athletic vs. Liverpool: Video
(footytube)

The tribute money: Peter finding the silver coin in the mouth of the fish, Jacobs Jordaens
“Liverpool’s 2-1 defeat of Blackburn on Sunday sparked fresh recriminations about the playing style of Sam Allardyce’s side, with Rafael Benitez sarcastically observing: ‘I think it is a model for all the managers around the world, their style of football.’ That Blackburn are a hard-working, physical side is no secret. Allardyce, though, has taken umbrage at criticisms of their football in recent weeks.” (Football Further)