Good Game Bad Game [vs Atletico Madrid]

For so long it was a case of deja vu. As with last Saturday, Liverpool pressed hard, came close to scoring on a number of occasions but failed to do so. To be fair to them, Atletico were a lot classier than Spurs and you have to wonder what Simao could have achieved had the transfer to Liverpool gone through a couple of years back.

Then came the penalty. Was it the right choice? Probably not but, you know what, the earlier two were, Liverpool deserved to win let alone draw this game and when you've lost a Champions League semi-final to an own goal in the final minute it doesn't really matter.

Good Game
Apart from the goal, Pepe Reina had very little else to do. Atletico slice Liverpool open for the goal but otherwise Jamie Carragher and Daniel Agger had a good game against some formidable ball players. Even so, there's that nagging doubt that the absence of Martin Skrtel is being increasingly felt. Not to mention that Agger should have at least scored once.

Both Fabio Aurelio and Alvaro Arbeloa did their job well. They moved well forward and helped stretch Atletico's defence.

Perhaps I'm a bit biased, but I feel that this was another masterclass by Xabi Alonso who always seems to pick out a Liverpool player no matter how many opposing players surround him. My man of the match.

Javier Mascherano hasn't hit the heights of last season, probably due to the fact that he had such a tough summer, but his covering in midfield is still priceless. The same adjective has to be used for Steven Gerrard. This wasn't his best game, he should have scored earlier but he kept running till the end and got that penalty. It is that belief and drive that makes him such a good player, and not only his undoubted skill.

The same goes for Dirk Kuyt. He runs so much and so intelligently that he takes defenders all over the place. His touch has gotten better this season as the confidence has grown and thankfully those who were so critical last year seem to have shut up, at least for now.

Bad Game
Neither one necessarily had a bad game but Albert Riera's form has dipped lately whilst Robbie Keane, for all the effort that he puts in, isn't really being that effective. And he should have scored wehn put through against the keeper.

Substitutes
The introduction of Ryan Babel for Albert Riera made sense seeing that the Spaniard was being increasingly marginalised. Same goes for Lucas Leiva's introduction instead of Mascherano. Not that either one of the two made that much of an impact on the game.

Much more has to be said about David N'Gog. Benitez seems to like putting on these surprise players: see Nabil El Zhar's occasional appearances. Does it make sense, however? Perhaps it he simply wanted to put across a message to Robbie Keane or else it is simply because he doesn't have any real alternatives. Whatever the reason, it was a surprising decision.

Because whilst N'Gog has some potential (as seen by his cut-back and shot that almost resulted in a goal) and physically he seems very strong but he's nowhere near ready to play in such a delicate game.