Round of 16
22 February 2005
20:45 (CET) Anfield - Liverpool


Live match broadcaster


Leverkusen next at fortress Anfield
Saturday, 19 February 2005
Liverpool FC have won ten and drawn three of their 13 European matches
against German opposition at Anfield, a sequence Bayer 04 Leverkusen will be
hoping to end when they provide the Reds with their first Bundesliga
opponents since the sides met in the 2001/02 UEFA Champions League
quarter-finals.

  

Sami Hyypi? celebrates scoring against Leverkusen in 2002


Leverkusen won that tie despite losing the first leg 1-0 in England to Sami
Hyypi?'s goal on the stroke of half-time. Although Liverpool cancelled out
Michael Ballack's 16th-minute opener at the BayArena thanks to Abel Xavier's
effort three minutes before the break, Leverkusen raised their game in the
second half. Further goals from Ballack (64 minutes), substitute Dimitar
Berbatov (68) and Lucio (84) helped the German side into the last four after
Jari Litmanen gave them a scare by reducing arrears in the 79th minute.

The German side would also overcome English opposition in the semi-finals,
defeating Manchester United FC on away goals before succumbing to Real Madrid
CF in the final at Glasgow's Hampden Park.

Earlier that season, Liverpool held BV Borussia Dortmund to a scoreless draw
at the Westfalenstadion as the Reds returned to the site of their 2000/01
UEFA Cup triumph for the first time. Vladimír ?micer and Stephen Wright
scored in the 2-0 win at Anfield which enabled Gérard Houllier's side to
finish on top of the section.

Liverpool previously defeated the European champions FC Bayern München 3-2
in the 2001 UEFA Super Cup at Monaco, ending a spell of two decades without
meeting German opposition. Indeed, the last German team to score at Anfield
were 1. FC Dynamo Dresden in the second round of the 1977/78 European
Champion Clubs' Cup when Reinhard H?fner struck a 76th-minute consolation
with Liverpool 5-0 ahead. The Merseysiders would go on to win the
competition, defeating Club Brugge KV in the final.

Liverpool may have a strong record at home, but on their travels to Germany
the Reds have only won once in 13 attempts, although ten draws highlight a
defensive mean streak. Leverkusen clearly lack Liverpool's historical
involvement in UEFA competition, but their trips to England in recent years
have been frequent. In five visits in a two-year spell from 2001, Leverkusen
lost four times (in a row, a sequence they will strive to end at Anfield) and
drew once. Their sole victory on home soil came against Liverpool, with two
draws and two defeats in other games.

Their most recent engagements against English opposition came in the group
stages of the 2002/03 UEFA Champions League. Drawn against eventual pool
winners Manchester United, Leverkusen first lost 2-1 at the BayArena to two
Ruud van Nistelrooij goals before going down at Old Trafford to another goal
from the Dutchman and one from Juan Sebastián Verón. But Leverkusen won
three of their other four matches to finish second to United and take their
place in the second group stage where Newcastle United FC provided their
opposition on two occasions.

Leverkusen found the going tough, losing all six of their matches to
Newcastle, FC Barcelona and FC Internazionale Milano. At the BayArena, they
were on the receiving end of a 3-1 defeat by Newcastle, for whom Shola Ameobi
scored twice, while in the return at St. James' Park, a first half hat-trick
from Alan Shearer provided the Magpies with a second 3-1 success.


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