Source: Liverpool_Echo
Liverpool FC 1 Unirea Urziceni 0 - Dominic King on the Reds' Europa League battle
NO matter how much make up is applied, regardless of the way you dress it up, nobody ever wants to go out with the ugly sister.[LNB]NO matter how much make up is applied, regardless of the way you dress it up, nobody ever wants to go out with the ugly sister.[LNB]The UEFA Cup - or to give its new, upmarket title the Europa League - underwent a dramatic overhaul last summer, as those running the continental game in Switzerland sensed something needed to be done to revive its fortunes.[LNB]So, millions of francs were invested on flash branding, the format of the tournament was tinkered with and a powerful advertising campaign with big sponsors was conjured up in an attempt to bring it in line with the Champions League.[LNB]Yet, sadly, there is an old saying that fits in perfectly with this tournament and it came to mind last night, as Liverpool went head-to-head with Unirea Urziceni, those footballing luminaries from Romania.[LNB]You can apply as much lipstick as you like to a pig but it will always remain a pig; Liverpool might be taking their duties seriously but this will never, ever compensate for the Champions League - and how that feeling was evident in the Anfield gallery.[LNB]The only way this round of 32 tie had a chance of entering Liverpool folklore was if Rafa Benitez's side cut loose and ran up a score to rival that of the 11 the class of 1974 put past Stromsgodset in a European Cup Winners' Cup clash.[LNB]As they have failed to find the net more than twice in a game since September 26, that was never a realistic possibility but surely nobody anticipated another lifeless, humdrum 90 minutes - wasn't this meant to be an evening of target practice?[LNB]That, in theory, was the idea but what actually transpired was an experience to numb the soul and deflate the spirits; an evening such as this should have been the only incentive Liverpool needed to mount a relentless, successful push for the top four.[LNB]Instead, all it succeeded in doing was proving that the Reds are still struggling to find their pizzazz; all huff but little puff, they failed to give Giedrius Arlauskis, Unirea's goalkeeper, the kind of 90 minutes that, privately, he must have been fearing.
