Dec

Liverpool meet the conquerors of Rangers

Oh it could have been a battle of Britain.

If you ignore the fact that Rangers were confident of finishing in the top two of their Champions League group, the smart money was on them at least finishing third. After all, who were Unirea Urziceni? A team that were unable to beat Greenock Morton in a pre-season friendly, they would pose no threat to the Scottish champions.

A 4-1 demolition job at Ibrox ensured that the Romanians were not going to be laughed at again by the Scottish media and went a long way to seeing them avoid last place in the group. Their reward for their triumphs in their opening Champions League campaign is a last 32 tie against Liverpool.

Liverpool also finished third in their Champions League group but unlike Unirea, this was not a cause for celebration. A group containing Lyon and Fiorentina was never going to be without a few tricky moments but this was a Liverpool team that had been in two Champions League finals in recent years.

One point from a possible twelve against their two contenders condemned Liverpool to an early Champions League exit and the club will have to suffer the financial fall-out of their failing.

With background whispers that Liverpool budget for reasonable progression in the Champions League every season, their inability to make it to the knock out round will have the money men at Anfield even more concerned, and they weren’t too comfortable to start with.