Dortmund here we come

Liverpool's remarkable season just gets better and better after Gerard Houllier's heroes made it through to the UEFA Cup Final on an emotionally charged night at Anfield. The Reds defeated Spanish giant Barcelona 1-0 to claim a place in their first European final since 1985 and maintain their pursuit of a unique cup treble.

England internationals Michael Owen and Steven Gerrard returned to the side after both sat out the Merseyside derby and Gerrard lined up on the right hand side of a midfield diamond formation that had Vladimir Smicer supporting the front two.

Prior to kick off the flags and banners were out in force and the entire ground was in fine voice, as the two sides took to the field side by side.

The pace was fast and furious straight from the kick off and Rivaldo almost stunned the vociferous Anfield crowd with a stunning 35-yard strike that Westerveld superbly tipped over the bar.

At the opposite end Reina in the visitors goal saved bravely at the feet of Michael Owen and Sami Hyypia rose majestically to meet a Gary McAllister corner but could not direct his header goalwards.

On the break, Barcelona looked particularly dangerous and everytime Rivaldo gained possession an air of caution rang around Anfield. Westerveld had to be alert to deny Kluivert with a clever back heel and on 33 minutes Spanish international Luis Enrique came closest to breaking the deadlock with a shot that evaded the Liverpool upright by a matter of inches.

Rivaldo then conjured up sublime piece of Brazilian magic to dance his way through the Reds midfield only to be promptly stopped in his tracks by a solid Hyypia tackle that resulted in a raucous roar of approval from the Kop.

As the interval approached Liverpool had strong claims for a penalty turned down. Steven Gerrard superbly controlled the ball on his chest 25 yards from goal and played a delightful one-two with Vladimir Smicer that took him gliding into the area, where he was sent crashing to the turf.

Referee Mr Meier waved away Liverpool's appeals but on the stroke of half time the home side finally made the vital breakthrough courtesy of a Gary McAllister penalty. From a McAllister corner on the right Kluivert handled and the Swiss referee had no hesitation this time in pointing to the spot.

Just like he had done with his free kick against Everton three days previous, McAllister held his nerve and coolly netted, sending Barca keeper Reina the wrong way to make it 1-0.

Barcelona came out for the second half in determined mood and Kluivert shot dangerously across goal almost immediately. On 54 minutes they did manage to put the ball in the back of the Reds net but the linesman had long flagged for offside by the time Luis Enrique netted.

A wild miss-kick by Westerveld almost allowed Barca an embarrassing equaliser following a searching through ball from Petit. Fortunately for Liverpool the ball had too much pace on it and ran out of play before the chasing Kluivert could capitalise.

Heskey went close to increasing Liverpool's advantage with a shot that forced Reina into a stretching save and Gerrard skimmed a low shot narrowly past the Barca post not long after the hour mark.

That was the closest Liverpool came to putting the tie beyond doubt and tension gripped Anfield as Barca pressed forward in the closing stages. To prolong the agony four minutes of injury time was added and it became almost unbearable as the Reds played out time. A deafening roar greeted the final shriek of the referee's whistle and the celebrations commenced.

Another famous episode had been added to Anfield's long list of memorable European nights. A banner on the Kop read 'UNPARALLED HISTORY - GLORIOUS FUTURE' and on the evidence of this performance who can disagree. Bring on Alaves!

TEAMS
Liverpool: line-up at LFChistory.

Barcelona: Manuel Reina, Reiziger, Vitor Borba, Puyol, De Boer, Petit, Enrique Martinez, Guardiola (c), Cocu, Overmars, Kluivert. Subs - De la Pena, Garcia, Garcia de la Torre, Hernandez, Pedro Fonseca, Philippe Dutruel, Zenden.

Referee: Urs Meier - Switzerland

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