There have been some truly magical European nights at Anfield since I became a supporter over 10 years ago. Barcelona in 2001. Chelsea and Juventus in 2005. Chelsea in 2007. Arsenal and Inter Milan in 2008. Real Madrid in 2009.
Debrecen in 2009 is surely not in this list.
Though we won 1-0, thanks to Dirk Kuyt’s goal, we looked sloppy, despite NUMEROUS opportunities to win it. Gerrard, oddly enough, was the biggest culprit of wasteful finishing, spurning several moments of glory when it probably would have been easier to score. But he can be forgiven, as the guy has on more than one occasion lifted us from similarly gloomy matches. This time, it was Dirk Kuyt who lifted the gloom, slamming home a parried Torres effort into the far post corner in front of the Anfield Road End with the last kick of the first half.
If one thought this would unleash the hounds in the second half, this “one” would be wrong. In fact, “one” would be the final result, with Torres, Gerrard, Kuyt, Riera, Benayoun, and Lucas all missing opportunities they would typically finish. It would not be unfair to say we could have won 6-0, to be frank, but it would probably be flattering towards us because of how genuinely wasteful in possession we were and how we couldn’t hit the ocean with a rock.
Debrecen were resilient, yes, but they were also toothless and lacked quality. There is no reason we shouldn’t have won, but let’s not get too discouraged here. With only six matches played in the group stages, all you can do is win when you play… and that is exactly what we have gone and done in our opener, regardless if we looked glamorous or not. As “they” say, a win is a win.
We’ll need to be more ruthless with our finishing as we travel to Florence to play Fiorentina in our next Champions League outing, but as always, Liverpool amp up their game as we face difficult opponents in the Champions League. After all, over the years, we have beaten Barcelona, Inter Milan, and Real Madrid at their home patch. So what’s Fiorentina? Tough, but not unbeatable, no matter how useless we seemed against the Hungarian minnows.
First in the table ain’t bad, so let’s keep it up and take it one match at a time. Good, not great. But that’s all that counts in the Champions League! 
