Liverpool rarely park the bus but I remember one European tie where they did for two games in a row. It was the 2000/2001 Uefa Cup (forerunner to the Europa League) and Liverpool were drawn in the semi-finals against a very powerful Barcelona who were arguably one of the best teams on the continent.
Robbie Fowler and Gerard Houllier with the UEFA Cup. Source: Trendsmap.
In those days there weren’t so many Champions League placers reserved for the European elite which meant that the UEFA cup had more top quality teams involved in its competition.
The Reds had already knocked out Roma (who won the Serie A that year) and Porto from the competition but Barcelona looked like a different prospect especially after they had blown out their opponents AEK Athens 6–0 on aggregate in the previous round.
Gerard Houllier (who past away last year.. Rest In Peace… Good Sir) was Liverpool’s manager and he wasn’t taking any chances especially against a Barcelona that included De Boer, Puyol, Petit, Rivaldo, Overmars, Guardiola (yes Pep), and Kluiverts. They also had a young Xavi on the bench as well as Dani. This team had at its core key players from the 98 Dutch National team.
Liverpool were over matched but Houllier played it shrewdly over both fixtures. He frustrated the Catalans 0–0 at the Nou Camp and then repeated the performance at Anfield where Liverpool won 1–0 courtesy of a Gary McAllister penalty. Job done. It wasn’t pretty but the Reds were now in the final of the UEFA Cup.
Scottish legend Gary McAllister - Enjoyed a swan song with Liverpool in 2000/2001 source: Transfermarkt (no typo)
Ironically the final turned out to be a real barn burner. Liverpool defeated another Spanish club, Alaves, 5–4 to secure the silverware with a sudden-death overtime goal to secure their third UEFA Cup title and the first since 1976.
2000/2001 was actually a great season in LFC history. They won both the FA Cup and League Cup as well to complete a unique treble.
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