Footy Speak

Liverpool will almost certainly be featuring on Channel Five this season after their Champions League campaign, that promised fireworks two months ago, went up in smoke in France.

The Reds, who were dubbed one of the competition’s favourites, have picked up just four points from four games and qualification is now out of their hands. With numerous permutations, most of them ugly, the likelihood is that Liverpool need to beat Debrecen and hammer Fiorentina to have any hope of progressing – but if Lyon lose in Florence in three weeks time, Liverpool are out no matter what.

Rafa Benitez, despite missing the likes of Steven Gerrard, Glen Johnson, Albert Riera and Martin Skrtel, still managed to submit a strong outfit for his side’s must-win fixture in Lyon tonight and for the large part, Liverpool looked comfortable and deserved their 1-0 lead courtesy of an 83rd-minute rocket from sub Ryan Babel. But Benitez and his side are being punished left, right and centre for their mistakes at present and it was the Greek defender Kyrgiakos who, rather than stand his ground and muscle his man away, decided to dive in when off balance, allowing Lisandro Lopez to run clear and finish high past Pepe Reina.

The talk of Benitez losing his job is premature; he has no money to spend so neither does an incumbent, and it’s clear the players and most fans are behind him. But at any club, one win in eight matches simply isn’t good enough. No league titles in twenty years simply isn’t good enough.