Ryan Babel’s speculative, yet spectacular drive from 30 yards into the top corner on 83 minutes looked to have won the match in France on Matchday 4. All sorts of things were going through my head. “Maybe we can sneak through this group after all,” or “FINALLY! We’re back on track! We can do it,” or even the “Let’s grab a second and bury them, lads.”
Fat chance.
With the run of form we’ve been on, it was not a surprise 30 seconds into stoppage time when the ball magnetically found its way into the box with Lisandro clear. Of all players, he was the one guy we did not want in the box. And naturally, he scored, just like Lyon was able to do against us at Anfield. This result leaves us hanging by a thread on 4 points after 4 matches, and Fiorentina being our only hope of survival in the group.
The group standings are as follows:
1- Lyon on 12 points
2- Fiorentina on 9 points
3- Liverpool FC on 4 points
4- Debreceni on 0 points
Here is how we can still qualify:
Lyon host Fiorentina in one of their two remaining matches, with Fiorentina’s other match being against us. A win for Fiorentina would mean we would be knocked out, but a draw or a loss against Lyon for them would mean we would still have a fighting chance.
If Fiorentina lose that match, and we are able to defeat Debreceni, then we would progress if we defeated Fiorentina regardless of the scoreline. If Fiorentina draw that match, we would not only have to win the match, but we would have to win by more than two goals. If we won 2-0, we would be knocked out due to an inferior overall goal difference, unless of course we absolutely spank Debreceni, but that seems unlikely in our current run of form.
It seems almost ludicrous that we are in this situation, especially given that we were not dealt the most challenging of groups. But it is what it is, and we have to face the reality that we could very well end up in the Europa League this season… and potentially even next.
But here’s to optimism! HIP HIP HOORAY!!!
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