Okay, so this is one article that i wrote for fifthname that was supposed to be put up when the site would be upgraded to a Beta version. But that did not happen and i came across this article today while searching for some music on my PC. And i do feel this articles should be read by someone at least, not because it is awesome or something like that, but because it would then just be such a waste if it was meant to be read by people and read by nobody at all! And since this article is more than a month old, it might appear as if i have been reading newspapers dated a long while back. Just thought i would put it up here, on my blog since nobody really bothers reading it anyway.

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                         Champions League status update.

  A day after Liverpool were muscled out of Group E of the Champions League by seemingly  harmless teams such as Lyon and Fiorentina FC, a friend of mine (not so much a Liverpool fan  apparently) updated his status on Facebook to this- "Q-What do Liverpool fans do when their  side wins the Champion Trophy? A- They turn off their Playstations and go to bed." I couldnt  agree more. 

  After having drawn 1-1 with Lyon away from home, Liverpool were only left hoping for divine  intervention as proceeding to the knockout stage now seemed an occurence over which they  had no control. Not only did they have to beat Debrecen away from home, which in itself  looked like an uphill task considering their ongoing poor run and the unconvincing 1-0 victory  against Debrecen at home, but also hope against odds that Lyon would resist defeat against  Fiorentina away from home. Not a very comfortable position to be in I tell yeh. Veteran  defender J.Carragher commented- "We always believe at this club, that we can do special  things."

  Nothing special happened this time though, as the Reds crashed out even after a 1-0 victory in  Hungary. Fiorentina's 1-0 win rendered Liverpool's useless. And the favour which Liverpool  expected from Lyon, wasn't granted. 

  This ouster in the early stages itself, implied multiple consequences with financial uneasiness  heading the list. Even as qualifying to the knockout stages of the Champions league boosted  Fiorentina's revenue by a whopping 25 million euros, Liverpool found themselves in a tight  spot. And the road to recovery isn't an easy one as Liverpool now focus on the secondary  trophy- the Europa League cup. They are also under pressure to raise the level of performance  in the Premier League if they are to qualify for the Champions League next season.

  The ouster was also followed by a lot of talk regarding the end of Benitez's reign as manager at  Anfield. These rumours, however were immediately put to rest. The loss was also followed by  much pointing of fingers towards the owners of the club and their apparent lack of concern  towards towards the current state of the most succesful English club in history. Accusations of  lack of financial support granted to Rafa were made too. In the midst of all this, captain Steve  Gerrard has admitted that each team gets what it deserves in the Champions League. And  Benitez claimed  that Liverpool could have made it to the next stage had Spaniard Torres not  been injured.

   With the 3 other English clubs of the top 4 making it to the knockout stages in a relatively  smooth fashion and this being Liverpool's first ouster at such an early stage of the tournament  since 2002, it definitely comes as a major blow to the club's standing. Also adding disgrace to  their dismal performance is the fact that none of the other 3 clubs present in Group E would  have been considered as a major threat to the Reds under different conditions. Also, the  number of goals scored by Liverpool in Group E matches is only equal to the number of goals  scored by Debrecen. All in all, they screwed up. Big time. Good luck with the Europa league,  suckers!

  P.S.- It was orgasmic watching ManUtd. lose to Besiktas at Old Trafford.

  P.P.S.- If you are a Liverpool supporter, you are probably fat, lonely and gay. No offence.

  P.P.P.S- If you think Arsenal is a great club, you are wrong. Period.

  

  More later.

  Sumedh.