Barcelona out despite victory at Liverpool

Barcelona out despite victory at Liverpool
Liverpool's Craig Bellamy (R) can only look on as Lilian Thuram controls the ball during their UEFA Champions League match at Anfield.

Barcelona's reign as European champions ended on Tuesday when their 1-0 win at Liverpool was not enough to stop them being eliminated on the away goals rule after their first knockout round tie ended 2-2 on aggregate.
The only goal of a tumultuous night of end-to-end football came when Eidur Gudjohnsen rounded Liverpool goalkeeper Pepe Reina after 75 minutes to slot the ball into an empty net just four minutes after coming on as a substitute for Lilian Thuram.
That squared the tie at 2-2 following Liverpool's 2-1 win at the Nou Camp two weeks ago, but Barcelona needed at least two goals to secure a victory and they rarely looked like doing that.
The Spanish side, eliminated by an English side after beating an English side to become champions last May with their victory over Arsenal in Paris, were attempting to become the first team for 11 years to overturn a first leg home defeat and qualify for the next round.
They might have done so if Ronaldinho had scored rather than hit the post with Reina well beaten after 53 minutes.
Liverpool though had hit the bar twice in the first half through John Arne Riise after 11 minutes and Momo Sissoko after 32 minutes.
And despite this defeat coming just four days after Manchester United won by the same score at Anfield in the Premier League, it was Liverpool's players and fans who were wildly celebrating at the end of a memorable match.
It began at a blistering pace with Liverpool the dominant force in the opening exchanges and Barcelona only seriously coming into the game in the second half.
As Liverpool coach Rafa Benitz had predicted on Monday his counterpart Frank Rijkaard opted to play Ronaldinho, Samuel Eto'o and Argentinian Lionel Messi in attack.
But the expected danger from that exhilarating trio never really materialised and Barca only began to look dangerous when Eto'o was replaced by Ludovic Giuly with half an hour to play.
Liverpool also stole the initiative from Barca by forcing the pace of the game from the beginning with Riise going close after eight minutes with a fierce left-footed drive that flew narrowly wide of Victor Valdes's left-hand post.
The Norwegian went even closer three minutes later when he smashed another left-footed shot against the bar when Oleguer stood off him allowing him time to shoot.
Valdes was at the heart of the next two serious goal-scoring incidents, first as hero then as villain.
With Liverpool continuing their almost non-stop attacking forays with Steven Gerrard and Dirk Kuyt running tirelessly, Valdes made an acrobatic double-save, first from Craig Bellamy then Kuyt when both looked certain to score.
While his second save stopped Kuyt scoring, the ball fell into the path of Riise whose powerful header was cleared off the line by Barcelona skipper Carles Puyol.
But six minutes later Valdes was guilty of a careless clearance which went straight to Sissoko, albeit 45 metres from goal.
But the Frenchman, with time and space, connected sweetly and sent the ball thundering off the top of Valdes's bar with the goalkeeper stranded in no-man's land first with a horrified, then a relieved, look on his face.
Deco was Barca's most dangerous player in the opening period but even his influence was limited to flitting around the box and one crunching interception by Carragher on the little Portuguese midfielder summed up Liverpool's intentions.
They rarely allowed Barcelona space and time to play, and in the end the Catralans ran out of both, and lost their grip on their trophy too.
Liverpool, who preceded Barca as European champions, go into Friday's quarter-final draw, while Barca are left to salvage something from their season by attempting to retain their Spanish title.