Liverpool FC

[mondatoo]

Mourinho seems very keen on taking over from Sir Alex so can't see him at Lpool anytime soon.

[kinboshi]

Huang stressed that 'money is not a problem', so what is his goal he wants to achieve for Liverpool? "Get back to where we were, to be the double champion of Premier League and Champions League."

If this translation is accurate the future seems rather bright.

Yeah, I was thinking the same. 

[The Baron]

Mourinho seems very keen on taking over from Sir Alex so can't see him at Lpool anytime soon.

Agree, my brother who is involved in EPL recruitment thinks this was nailed on a year or two back- I think I posted in here about it back then.

[The Baron]

Huang stressed that 'money is not a problem', so what is his goal he wants to achieve for Liverpool? "Get back to where we were, to be the double champion of Premier League and Champions League."

If this translation is accurate the future seems rather bright.

Yeah, I was thinking the same. 

A couple of things also point to the fact he's very rich. Firstly the approach the buy the club for 1 billion US - not something our present owners could have managed even with the aid of the banks. Secondly if he owned the Cavs he financed the contracts of LeBron James and Shaquille  O'Niell which is not exactly small change.

I'm done wanting to do it year by year - just let it be true.

[77dave]

Liverpool will become the first English club to play in 16 European semi-finals when they take on Atletico Madrid on Thursday night.

 
Here are some more fascinating pre-match facts as we build-up to the Europa League semi-final, first-leg clash at the Vicente Calderon.

Liverpool's European Record (overall): Pld 312 Won 177 Drawn 66 Lost 69

Liverpool's record in Fairs/ UEFA Cup/ Europa League: Pld 101 Won 56 Drawn 23 Lost 22

The two clubs met in Europe for the first time last season. Both Champions League group matches ended 1-1 with Simao equalising Robbie Keane's opener in Madrid. At Anfield Maxi Rodriguez gave Atletico the lead before Steven Gerrard's penalty levelled the game deep into injury time. Both teams qualified for the knock-out stages.

This is Liverpool's 16th European Semi-Final and they have lost only four previously - to Inter Milan in 1965, Leeds - 1971, Paris St Germain - 1997 and Chelsea in 2008.

That total of 16 is a record for an English club beating Manchester United (14), Chelsea (10) and Leeds (9).

When playing the second leg at home Liverpool have won seven and drawn one of the eight ties decided on this ground. That came in 1976 when they held Barcelona 1-1 in the UEFA Cup to reach the final.

The Reds have only ever lost three second leg games at this stage - all away - to Inter Milan in 1965, Tottenham in 1973 and Chelsea two years ago.

It is their fifth semi-final in this competition and have been eliminated once - by Leeds 1-0 on aggregate after a first leg defeat at Anfield.

Liverpool are aiming to become the first English team to win at the Vicente Calderon. Eight times English clubs have visited with only Derby, Bolton, Liverpool and this season Chelsea avoiding defeat. Leicester (twice), Manchester United and Aston Villa have all lost on the ground.

This will be the 15th time they have played Spanish opposition away from home. They have won seven, drawn four and lost three.

The Reds have lost just one of the last eight visits to Spain. That was in 2002 at Rafa Benitez's Valencia. They have won four and drawn one of the last five.

Rafa Benitez avoided defeat on this ground in his two La Liga visits as coach of Valencia. In 2003-04 his side won 3-0 while a year earlier Mauricio Pellegrino, now a first team coach at Anfield, scored at Atletico in a 1-1 draw.

Maxi Rodriguez scored Atletico's first goal in Europe this season doing so in a Champions League qualifier against Panathinaikos. Former Red Sebastian Leto scored for the Greeks in the tie.

Maxi also hit four in a Copa Del Rey win over Marbella last November.

Fernando Torres scored 92 goals in 244 games for his boyhood club before his move to Anfield.

This will be the fifth European semi-final for Jamie Carragher and Steven Gerrard and they have lost just one - to Chelsea in 2008.

Pepe Reina will play in the Europa League semi-final for Liverpool nine years after playing against them in the UEFA Cup for Barcelona.

Javier Mascherano is one yellow card away from missing the next game.

The Reds have lost just one of the last 10 games home and away against teams from Spain.

When Liverpool have played the first leg of a European semi-final away from home they have won two and drawn two of the eight games.

Atletico's European Record (overall): Pld 209 Won 111 Drawn 43 Lost 55

This season, like Liverpool, Atletico finished third in their Champions League group. It contained Chelsea, Porto and Apoel. They picked up just three points - the lowest total of all eight teams jettisoned into the Europa League.

To reach this stage of the competition they have defeated Galatasaray (3-2 on aggregate), and both Sporting Lisbon and Valencia on away goals after 2-2 aggregate scorelines.

They have not lost away from home in the three Europa League games winning one and drawing two and have found the net in all of them.

They have reached the Semi-Final despite winning only one of their last 12 games in Europe. That came in Round of 32 in the Europa League when they won 2-1 at Galatasaray with the winner coming in the 90th minute.

They have drawn five of their six Europa League games this season.

In their last 20 games in Europe they have drawn 13, winning four and losing three.

In Europe at home this season they have won one of seven games with five draws. In the knock-out stages of the Europa League they have drawn all three at the Vicente Calderon.

In La Liga, Atletico have lost their last three fixtures including a 2-1 loss to the bottom club Xerez in their last home game.

That defeat was their fourth at home in the league this season. They have also been beaten by Real Madrid, Villarreal and Malaga in front of their own fans. However, they did beat Barcelona 2-1 two months ago.

Last Saturday they were beaten 2-1 at Villarreal with Sergio Aguero scoring a consolation.

The stadium is named after the famous club President of the 1960's, 70's and 80's.

Simao has scored against Liverpool in Europe for both Benfica and Atletico Madrid and played against the Reds in the 2001 UEFA Cup Semi-Final for Barcelona.

After reaching the knock-out stages last season Atletico were eliminated in the Champions League Round of 16 by Porto on away goals.

Diego Forlan won the 'Pichichi' last season, the award for the leading scorer in La Liga. He hit 32 goals in his 33 appearances. He became the first Atletico player to achieve the feat since Christian Vieri in 1997-98 who scored 24 goals in 24 games.

Atletico are looking to reach the final of this competition for the first time in their history.

Coach Quiche Sanchez Flores won La Liga as a player with Real Madrid. As a coach he took over at Valencia a year after Rafa left for Anfield. Last season he was in charge of Benfica.

'Los Rojiblancos' are playing in their first European semi-final since 1998-99 when they lost to Parma 5-2 on aggregate in the UEFA Cup.

They have won La Liga nine times - the last in 1996, the year they did the double. They have won the Spanish Cup nine times also and the Spanish Super Cup once - in 1985.

Atletico won here 2-1 in a pre-season friendly in August with goals from Sergio Aguero and Diego Forlan.

Diego Forlan scored 10 goals in 63 Premier League appearances for Manchester United with two coming at Anfield in December 2002.

Paulo Assuncao played for Porto against the Reds in the Champions League two seasons ago.

Atletico will play Sevilla in the final of the Copa Del Rey at the Nou Camp next month.

Leading scorers this season: (Europe in brackets)

Liverpool: Torres 22 (4), Kuyt 11 (2), Gerrard 10 (2), Benayoun 8 (2), Ngog 8 (2), Babel 5 (2), Johnson 3 (0), Mascherano 2 (1), Agger 1 (1), Aquilani 1 (0), Insua 1 (0), Kyrgiakos 1 (0), Lucas 1 (1), Skrtel 1 (0), own goals 3 (0).

Atletico: Forlan 23 (3), Aguero 19 (6), Simao 9 (2), Jurado 8 (0), Reyes 5 (1), A. Lopez 4 (1), Balde 2 (0), Tiago 2 (0), Assuncao 1 (0), Juanito 1 (0), Ujfalusi 1 (0), own goals 5 (1).                                 

[The Baron]

Rafa to Juve at the end of the season is a done deal from what I've heard.

[The Baron]

There is also one going about that Stevie G has some 16 year old knocked up who's keeping the bubby, and his wife is tapping some Derby county player so they both want out of the UK, and this was all uncovered by the "Ashley Cole shagging everything" reporter but I've not heard it form one reliable source unlike the Rafa to Juve story.

[maldini32]

Rafa to Juve at the end of the season is a done deal from what I've heard.

There is also one going about that Stevie G has some 16 year old knocked up who's keeping the bubby, and his wife is tapping some Derby county player (Kris Commons) so they both want out of the UK, and this was all uncovered by the "Ashley Cole shagging everything" reporter but I've not heard it form one reliable source unlike the Rafa to Juve story.

Ive heard the same.

[TheChipPrince]

Was praying it was Savage too.

[The Baron]

Highly doubt the Gerrard & wife rumours are true. There have been so many over the years about her, bouncers, gangsters etc etc. I blame the Evertonians.

We're widely linked with Van Der Vaart today for 6 mil which would be a snip. It would also mean the end of Aquilani. Shame we didn't have the money for Sneijder last summer when Real sold him.

[maldini32]

Highly doubt the Gerrard & wife rumours are true. There have been so many over the years about her, bouncers, gangsters etc etc. I blame the Evertonians.

We're widely linked with Van Der Vaart today for 6 mil which would be a snip. It would also mean the end of Aquilani. Shame we didn't have the money for Sneijder last summer when Real sold him.

Well we did but Mr Benitez decided to buy that world beater known as Aqualani.

[The Baron]

After Aquilani he said he had enough for a big signing. The rug was then pulled out from under him as our budget changed and we signed no one else.

[Longy]

http://twitter.com/LucasLeiva21

This is really funny imo.

[The Baron]

Anyone know much about Jonjo Shelvey?

Looks like a done deal.

[TheChipPrince]

Anyone know much about Jonjo Shelvey?

Looks like a done deal.

Gatsos Charlton, he'll tell...  Dont think hes played much recently