stad / yer: nuevo mestalla stadyumu (valencia) tarih: 17-09-2002 seyirci: 40.000 hakem: herbert fandel (almanya)
valencia (teknik direktör: rafa benitez) santiago canizares, cristobal “curro” torres, roberto ayala, mauricio pellegrino, amedeo carboni, francisco rufete (miguel angel angulo 75'), david albelda (gonzalo de los santos 84'), ruben baraja, vicente rodriguez, pablo aimar (miguel angel ferrer “mista” 71'), john carew
liverpool fc (teknik direktör: gerard houllier) jerzy dudek, jamie carragher, salif diao (bruno cheyrou 46'), sami hyypiä, djimi traore, danny murphy (milan baros 76'), dietmar hamann, steve gerrard, john arne riise, emile heskey, el hadji diouf (michael owen 46')
yardımcı hakemler: harry ehing (ger), peter henes (ger)
4. hakem: thorsten kinhöfer (ger)
valencia: santiago cañizares(gk) (c), mauricio pellegrino, roberto ayala, david albelda (dk. 84 gonzalo de los santos), john carew, rubén baraja, vicente, amedeo carboni, francisco rufete (dk. 75 miguel ángel angulo), pablo aimar (dk. 71 mista), curro torres
yedekler: andrés palop (gk), salva ballesta, juan sánchez, carlos marchena
teknik direktör: rafael benítez (esp)
liverpool: jerzy dudek (gk), sami hyypiä (c), emile heskey, el hadji diouf (dk. 46 michael owen), danny murphy (dk. 76 milan baroš), dietmar hamann, steven gerrard, john arne riise, salif diao (dk. 46 bruno cheyrou), jamie carragher, djimi traoré
yedekler: chris kirkland (gk), markus babbel, patrik berger, igor bišćan
aimar inspires superb valencia published: tuesday 17 september 2002, 23.36cet
valencia cf 2-0 liverpool fc pablo aimar and rubén baraja score as the hosts shine.
valencia cf 2-0 liverpool fc valencia cf produced a superb display of attacking football to beat liverpool fc in their opening uefa champions league group b fixture.
valencia ambition pablo aimar and rubén baraja scored the goals in the first half, but the margin of victory in the mestalla stadium could have been even higher as the home side signalled their intent of repeating their runs to the final in 1999/00 and 2000/01 against a team reduced to ten men late on.
diao given tough task after all the speculation about whether liverpool would use michael owen or milan baroš up front, gérard houllier instead decided to partner emile heskey with el hadji diouf. with stéphane henchoz injured, midfield player salif diao joined sami hyypiä in defence, but few backlines could have suppressed the rampant home attack.
aimar on top form in particular, valencia were grateful that aimar was fully fit after a recent hamstring strain, as the argentinian playmaker produced a peerless performance. john carew was given a rare start, but played with the confidence of a regular.
goalscoring move the home side were on the attack from the off, and both diao and jamie carragher were called upon in the liverpool defence in the opening minutes. but, after baraja and carew had both gone close, aimar opened the scoring on 20 minutes, converting after a fine passing move involving david albelda and baraja.
brief respite this did not stop valencia moving forward, vicente rodríguez having a header saved by jerzy dudek. heskey fashioned a liverpool chance on the half-hour, shooting against the post from a narrow angle, but it was only a brief respite for the visitors.
baraja doubles lead and - after a warning when aimar shot narrowly wide - the away side were two down seven minutes from the end of the first half when carew touched the ball to baraja, who shot home from 20 metres.
owen injects pace liverpool introduced owen and bruno cheyrou at half-time, and the pair injected pace and creativity into the english team's play, steven gerrard also getting a grip on the midfield. however, aimar was still able to force dudek to produce a fingertip save after a long-range effort four minutes into the second period, and, although liverpool looked better than in the first period, they fashioned few chances.
hamann dismissed although valencia had to withdraw the limping aimar with 19 minutes to go, liverpool were unable to take advantage. and the away side's chances evaporated altogether when hamann was dismissed 13 minutes from time, receiving his second booking after a tussle with aimar's replacement, mista.
late dominance with hamann gone, valencia dominated the last minutes of the game, the best chance coming in the final minute when dudek was forced to save at close range from carew.
significant force but the game had been tied up long before by valencia, the spanish champions already looking a significant force in this season's champions league. liverpool can take consolation from the fact that this was probably their toughest test of the group, but they will not want to come across another team in the excellent form of valencia.
