It was by no means a classic, more a hard day’s night for those who braved the elements at the Riazor stadium, but a precious victory, their first on Spanish soil for more than 20 years, has left them in a strong position to qualify from group A. Having all but eliminated Deportivo La Coruña, the group’s top seeds, Liverpool know that a second consecutive away win against AS Monaco in Monte Carlo on November 23 would see them through to the knockout stages with a match to spare.
It should not go unnoted that Deportivo have regressed since competing for honours with Valencia last season, but, in the circumstances, this was a triumph against the odds for Liverpool. Injuries to Djibril Cissé, Steven Gerrard and Xabi Alonso, who was fit only for a token appearance in stoppage time, left their team with a patched-up look, but with the much-maligned Igor Biscan proving a revelation in midfield, the result rarely looked in doubt after they had taken an early lead through Jorge Andrade’s own goal.
“I was very happy with the performance,” Benítez said. “For me, it was the best Liverpool performance I’ve managed. For me, the important thing is not that we won in Spain, because winning in Spain means you have to beat friends, but simply that we won because we had some problems with injuries before this game. The three points mean that our destiny is now in our own hands.”
Indeed, the evening had the feel of a watershed. As those players returned from the dressing-room to warm down afterwards, the travelling supporters, who were squeezed into a corner of the ground, made a point of lauding players such as Biscan and Djimi Traoré, both of whom were butts of derision during the Gérard Houllier regime.
It was a night for the unsung heroes, with Biscan stepping into the breach to replace Alonso, whom Benítez did not wish to risk because of a calf strain. The Croatian was to have a rewarding game, typified by his role in the goal in the fourteenth minute. Revealing a rare turn of pace as he stepped forward from midfield, he skipped past a challenge and found John Arne Riise in space on the left wing.
Riise’s cross was sent down the corridor of uncertainty between goalkeeper and defender and, with Milan Baros lurking, Jorge Andrade panicked and sliced the ball into his own net.
Baros, flourishing as a lone striker in the absence of Cissé, could have scored inside 30 seconds when, having been sent clear by Luis García, he was denied by José Francisco Molina. Riise could have made it 2-0 three minutes before half-time, after a penetrative run by the otherwise effete Harry Kewell, but he saw his first effort saved by Molina and his second cleared off the line.
Kept at arm’s length by Jamie Carragher and Sami Hyypia, whose defensive partnership has been breached just once in four Champions League matches, Deportivo soon ran out of ideas, leaving Liverpool to take a big step towards the knockout stages.