Liverpool 0 Standard Liege 0: Deja Vu?

Last season, Liverpool made it to the final-four of the UEFA Champions League before losing to Chelsea. They did go through some tough times to get that far, especially near the beginning. The game I recall greatly is the one-nil loss to Marseille at Anfield. Today, the butterflies have returned in my stomach.

Liverpool escaped with a 0-0 draw against Standard Liege, in a game that they should have lost. The "Reds" will return to Anfield, knowing they are in the driver's seat to win on relegation. Still, one can't help but feel nervous after this performance. Liege could easily have won by two or three goals.

Italian full-back Andrea Dossena and £20million signing Robbie Keane made their competitive debuts for Liverpool. Surely, this was a game that Liverpool expected to breeze through having never lost an away leg at this stage of the competition. It was a great atmosphere in the Maurice Dufrasne Stadium.

The stadium was exploding with noise and flares were lit up at both ends of the stadium. The Liege players responded to the unreal support. Six minutes into the game goalkeeper Pepe Reina appeared to have swept the ball back from behind the line after a close-range shot from Marouane Fellaini had hit the post.

A few Liege players protested, while a few others tried to put the loose ball into the back of the net. The nightmare start continued in the 11th minute. Wilfried Dalmat sent a cross into the box and Dossena was called for handling the ball. Dante Bonfim took the penalty kick and Reina rescued the team again with a fine leg save.

Anytime Fernando Torres got near Liege's box, he took a fair bit of abuse from the defenders. Xabi Alonso came closest for Liverpool in the first half with a 25-yard free-kick on goal. The second half saw more of the same as Liege continued to dominate. In the 65th minute, Igor de Camargo headed a pass from Bonfim just wide of the right post.

Steven Gerrard came on two minutes later for Keane. Shortly after coming onto the pitch, Gerrard fired a free-kick over the bar. A few minutes later, Deiudonne Mbokani beat Reina with a header, only to have Yossi Benayoun save the ball from bouncing into an empty net.

Liverpool coach, Rafael Benitez knew his team was lucky stating, "This game was far more difficult than we expected. And Jose Reina was the man of the match."

'We will have to be a lot better in the second leg at Anfield, much better."