CL. Liverpool 4 Arsenal 2

Comparisons are being made of last night’s match with the legendary St Etienne game and for extremes of emotion it is a fair comparison. Rafa’s use of Babel last night was inspired. He has faded badly early in the second half of the games he has started and has looked a fish out of water sometimes out wide. Rafa solved both these problems by using him as an impact sub and he also found himself in his favoured striker position for his goal. I felt both Babel’s and the goal Walcott assisted were down to the fatigue of the opposing players and not to any individual brilliance.Our back four were the unsung heroes especially in the first half when Arsenal were rampant. Skrtel had another blinding game, the experience of both Jamie and Sami was crucial and Aurelio had his best game in a red shirt. On the other hand we played the first 30 minutes without a mid-field. Gerrard and Alonso were off the pace and the extra pressure on Mascherano told. Thankfully the coincidence of Sami’s goal and Arsenal’s frenetic pace dropping allowed the midfield to regather.Both sets of players were shattered at the end testifying to the tension they must have suffered in the build up to the game. No yellow cards for us and I wonder if our midfielders were concentrating on this in those first 30 mins. The game was a wonderful ad for the sport not just the drama and the goals but the spirit it was played in.