Source: Daily_Mail
Liverpool 4 Real 0: Spanish giants are pulverised by Gerrard and Torres
Pulverised. There is no other word for it. Fittingly, for a team nicknamed The Meringues (Los Merengues), Real Madrid were splattered and dispersed over a wide area of Anfield in the manner of an airy fairy dessert. One that has been run over by a steamroller. Then another one. Then a herd of rampaging elephants. Driving more steamrollers.
The difficulty here is to explain the paucity of Madrid's resistance while doing justice to Liverpool's performance.
They were magnificent, arguably as great as they have been in Europe under manager Rafael Benitez, and that is saying something.
Just too good: Steven Gerrard celebrates with Fernando Torres after his penalty put Liverpool in control against Real Madrid
Better than the second half in Istanbul? Most definitely. In the end it probably did not matter that Madrid were bad because, even had they been good, they would not have lived with Liverpool in this form.
There was no contest here, no brave fightback, because Liverpool did not allow it. They went at Madrid from the first whistle with the verve and ambition of a team chasing a game, not defending a first-leg advantage.
The four-goal scoreline flatters Madrid, not Liverpool, and at least the Anfield regulars now know why a goalkeeper they prize so highly, Jose Reina, cannot force his way into Spain's team. Iker Casillas, the Madrid goalkeeper, was outstanding. Without him, this could have been the most amazing result in the history of European competition.
Instead, when Andrea Dossena added the fourth from Javier Mascherano's cross after 88 minutes, it merely became one of them. Here were two clubs with legendary status in Europe, but only one that justified the reputation. Real Madrid waved a white flag of surrender so early that Benitez's glorious triumph was almost an anti-climax.
A tough night: Real Madrid's Iker Casillas contemplates his side's defeat. The keeper, despite conceding four goals, was outstanding on the night
In the Bernabeu he had to work for victory, leaving it late, against the odds; at Anfield, Liverpool were playing exhibition football long before Frank De Bleeckere, the referee, put a stop to proceedings.
Madrid were a force in nothing but name and Benitez may have yearned for more of a challenge. He could not have hoped for a better performance, though. He joked on the eve of the game that he might even smile if his team went 5-0 up, and they went damn close to making him happy.
As ever, the Champions League brought the very best out of his players, and his stars, Fernando Torres and Steven Gerrard, were outstanding.
It was Torres who set the tone, though, the way he took the game to Madrid being the catalyst for a high-tempo performance that must surely be the benchmark for any team with ambitions to lift the Champions League trophy this season; or, in one case, retain it.
Read my name: Liverpool striker Torres shows his name and number to the Madrid fans after opening the scoring in the second-leg
The start of the second half summed the match up. After a dismal opening 45 minutes, Madrid now needed three goals to progress. This was their last throw of the dice and they were expected to come out with a rush. Instead, one minute from the restart, Ryan Babel sped down the left, crossed, and Gerrard hit the most exquisite volley for Liverpool's third. Now Madrid needed four.
Forget game over. This game had its plug pulled before it was even switched on.
Torres played in nine Madrid derbies during his time in Spain, scored a single goal for his beloved Atletico and was not on the winning side once. Last night he played like a man with a lifetime of scores to settle, bless him.
Maybe he feared another injury like the one in the Bernabeu stadium in the first leg and wanted to win the game early. If so, he succeeded. In 15 minutes he contrived to dismantle Real Madrid's defence, crush its spirit, strangle any resistance and put Liverpool two clear on aggregate.
The game was in its first minute when Torres signalled his intent, a great, surging run that took him past a band of Madrid defenders, scrambling in pursuit like the Keystone Kops, before his shot won a corner.
Minutes later he received a delicious ball from Gerrard, which he controlled on the pivot, taking two defenders out in the process, before advancing on goal with only Casillas to beat. So slender was the goalkeeper's touch that many thought the ball had gone in, but he had got just enough and another corner resulted.
From that, Mascherano struck a stunning volley from a clearance, which Casillas tipped on to the bar. Liverpool's domination was total and, soon, Madrid collapsed beneath the weight of it, with a little help from Torres.
Madrid were moaning, but had only themselves to blame; Fabio Cannavaro's attempted defence of a long through pass was lame.
With Torres battling he attempted a half-cocked bicycle kick when the loose ball should have been properly dispatched. It then fell to Pepe to do the job but he went down, too, claiming a push from Torres. The ball ran to Dirk Kuyt and with the men in white exposed, he cut the ball back for Torres to push it past Casillas.
A harsh decision: Real Madrid's Gabriel Heinze shows his disbelief after having a penalty awarded against him for handball
Although the additional goal did not change the demands of the tie from Madrid's point of view they started the game needing to score two and a 2-1 away victory would still see them through Torres's goal had something final about it.
Madrid had offered nothing, and this did not change. Indeed, they seemed to be suffering from the same fault that many Liverpool fans believe has blighted their own progress in the Premier League this season: a reluctance to commit men forward.
So it continued to be Liverpool's night and in the 28th minute the contest was over. Again, Madrid looked to have suffered a cruel tussle with fate, the handball given against Gabriel Heinze appearing to strike him on the arm, but high, near the shoulder, and from close range after a header by Alvaro Arbeloa.
There were two reasons for clemency but De Bleeckere, the referee who was a friend to Liverpool at Anfield last year with the early dismissal of Inter Milan defender Marco Materazzi, smiled benignly again, took heed of a linesman's flag, and pointed to the spot.
Gerrard took it, to the left. Never in doubt, much like the result.
