Result a triumph for indefatigable hard workers

Mar 8 2007 Red Watch by Andy Proudfoot, Liverpool Daily Post

IT’S OKAY, you can breathe out now.

The tension of those last 15 minutes should just about have subsided, and you should be able to walk unaided to the front door to pick up the post.

Given the anxiety that followed Gudjohnsen’s late-ish strike, it’s tempting to draw comparisons between the other night and the 2001 UEFA Cup encounter with Roma, when we hung on by our fingernails to a 1-0 defeat after a superb, and unexpected, away victory.

In truth though, that’s where the comparisons ends.

Against Roma we were battered from start to finish at Anfield, and received the benefit of the most outrageous refereeing about-face of all time; against Barca we thoroughly deserved our away-goals win, having made the reigning European Champions look very ordinary indeed for all but around 15 minutes in either leg.

This was a triumph for team and tactics: conclusive proof that good organisation, indefatigable spirit and a willingness to work hard in support of your colleagues can overcome the most talented opposition should they choose to eschew these priceless qualities.

Once again Rafa Benitez proved himself the master tactician in these games; he may still have a few nuances of our domestic game to learn, but few can match his acumen in matters European.

His knowledge of Spanish football appears so comprehensive that we might almost wish for Valencia in the next round, confident that they can do nothing that the Rafatollah cannot predict and nullify.

The only issue is whether the players have the discipline and ability to carry out his orders.

Over the two legs, they acquitted themselves admirably against Barcelona, with individuals like Riise throwing off his poor domestic form to raid undetected into the opposition penalty area, scoring improbably with his right foot in the first leg and traumatising the cross-bar in the second.