Champions League 2006-7 - Euro Red Diary 20

by Joel Rookwood

Liverpool v PSV Eindhoven

I love this time of year. Summer may be fading fast into memory, with cooler weather replacing that legendary British sunshine that attracts tourists by the drove, but really August does give way to the calendar year's favoured period.

And no, I'm going all romantic when I say that. I am not going to start listing autumnal colours as the reason for my affection for the season.

My feelings instead are more closely related to the fact that the new campaign of football is underway. More specifically, because it signals the moment every football fan of every big club (i.e. not Everton) looks forward to – the draw for the Champions League group stage.

Now I may be totally against the very concept of a group stage. If there had been one in the 1970s and 1980s Liverpool would have won the competition every year. Rare slip ups against Forest in '78 for example, would have proven insignificant if we had had another four games to pick up the necessary points to rectify the situation.

When Leeds got to the semi-final under O'Leary in the more recent past, they relied heavily on the latter games in the group stage to get them to the later rounds of the competition.

Their 4-0 defeat away at Barcelona early in the competition would, in the old format, have virtually confirmed their exit. The current system allows for mistakes to be made. And Champions shouldn't be allowed to make mistakes.

For all its deficiencies however, at least the modern format gives you the promise of three continental expeditions, which by the way, is more European football than Everton have had in a decade.

This time round UEFA served up a group including PSV Eindhoven, Bordeaux and Galatasaray for five-time winners Liverpool. It was the former club who were to play host to Benitez's team in the opening game, which for die-hard Reds such as us, meant a mid-September trip to sunny western Holland.

With the prospect of funding a flight to Istanbul coming just before Christmas, we had decided that to save a few quid, we would drive to one of the other fixtures. The toss of the coin saw Holland as the destination that we would attempt to find ourselves in by relying only on a ferry and a minibus. We're hardly the five-star travel company, as you can see.

Once we had arrived in Holland it was clear that we were certainly in the small minority of away supporters who chose not to make Amsterdam the base for the trip. We opted instead to stay in some miniscule town, the name of which no one could pronounce never mind remember.

Upon arrival in Eindhoven on the morning of the game, most Scousers were still recovering from a night in the Dam, and were as a consequence, notable by their absence.

With the bars lining the central squares yet to be filled with fans, we proceeded to hit the club shop. The assistant looked slightly nervous when a minibus full of Liverpudlians descended on her store. She offered that familiar look that most Europeans give us when we travel to watch Liverpool.

It's a cross between, 'how crazy and funny you are' and 'please don't hurt me'. Thankfully this particular individual seemed to convey a leaning towards the former thought process with her expression.

'Hey girl, have you got this in large?' one of the lads said, as he pointed to a grey PSV away shirt. She smiled, obviously only half understanding the question posed of her. 'We'll have Seventeen, please love'. Her smile soon became a laugh, that was until she realised that each member of the group was after the grey club shirt. After all, they were only €15 a piece.

The cut-price probably had something to do with the huge stock that remained at the club shop, which was evident just from a glimpse at the storeroom behind the counter. The assistant hurriedly disappeared and returned with a box.

Seconds later she found herself with a shop full of semi-naked Scousers, and was clearly beginning to warm to her visitors as a result. Within half an hour every one of us was sat in the main square with a pint in our hand, regretting in unison the fact that we all had the same shirt on. In my defence, it seemed like a good idea at the time.

Later that day however, the shirts did prove useful for those without tickets who were attempting to gain entry into home end.

The words 'Eendracht Maakt Macht', were written on the club gates, which apparently means something along the lines of 'together we're stronger'. In truth however, this was a motto the away section were closer to adhering to, so loud was the travelling spectators throughout the night. The home support in comparison remained eerily quiet.

Admittedly their team were hardly in inspiring form, which was not aided by the fact that a certain Jan Krompkamp was playing at fullback. He made a handful of appearances for Liverpool last term, and was, in a word, woeful.

Despite being the far stronger side, Liverpool were unable to break the deadlock, with the game finishing 0-0.

The following morning Benitez was of course vilified by the national press for not having won a game that we had dominated for large periods. A clean sheet away from home against your toughest opponents was welcomed by the local press however, who are far more accustomed to writing about European Cup triumphs.

This more positive conclusion was shared by the group on the minibus. It was on that bus where the trip had begun, and there where it saw its termination in the early hours of the morning that followed the game.

We parted company back in Liverpool and headed for our respective homes, all of us delirious with fatigue, and yet excited about the prospect of what should prove another great year for Liverpool.

Having made a host of promising signings in the summer, Benitez looks far closer to emulating the success that he achieved in this competition some fifteen months ago.

After Match Day One, the travelling Reds are confident we can do just that, winning a sixth trophy in Athens on May 23rd. Remember, you heard it here first.

Joel Rookwood

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