By Frank Malley, PA Chief Sports Writer
Nobody does it better. No football team does European nights quite like Liverpool at Anfield.
No sportsmen surely do excitement and frantic drama quite like the footballers of the English Premier League.
That was the conclusion after Liverpool beat Arsenal 4-2 on the night, 5-3 on aggregate, to progress to the semi-finals of the Champions League for the third time in four seasons.
There they will meet Chelsea yet again, for the fourth time in the competition in as many years, after the Londoners eased through their quarter-final against Fenerbahce.
Let's not forget Arsenal.
Their spirit was dogged, their football fabulous but their season now is surely over with manager Arsene Wenger having to make sense of two months in which they have simply imploded.
And the big question was: How does Rafael Benitez do it?
How does he constantly struggle to make an impact in the Premier League but consistently outwit his managerial colleagues when his players pull on their European shirts?
One answer would be Fernando Torres.
The Spaniard cost more than £25m but the vital goal he scored in the second half was his 29th of a season which is rapidly fast-tracking him to the sort of legend enjoyed by Kevin Keegan, Kenny Dalglish, Ian Rush and Michael Owen.
Another would be captain Steven Gerrard, who coolly slotted the penalty which ostensibly won the match after Kolo Toure was deemed to have pulled down Ryan Babel.
Modestly, Gerrard insisted: "It was one of the worst performances I've ever put in in a Liverpool shirt."
That was nonsense but says much of the standard this Liverpool team has set themselves in Europe.
The truth is that this victory was partly down to the industry and sheer bloody-minded determination of men such as Torres, Gerrard and Peter Crouch and the excellent Xabi Alonso.
And partly down to the strategist in Benitez who juggled his resources, switched his formation and had faith in the spirit of his side even when Arsenal scored the second away goal which they must have thought would take them through.
Mostly, however, it was down to the special atmosphere at Anfield.
Much has been written about it.
From the days of Kevin Keegan and John Toshack and Emlyn Hughes and supersub David Fairclough, the latter scoring the winner in a 3-1 European Cup quarter final victory against St Etienne back in 1977 which is still regarded by many as Anfield's most memorable night.
In modern times John Terry admitted the Kop had terrified the life out of his Chelsea side in the semi-final three years ago.
There is no doubt that when Liverpool were down, when Arsenal had wrested the initiative, it was that support which again made the difference.
And yet Wenger's side could hardly have made a better start, so much so that it is doubtful any side in the world could have lived with them in that first half hour.
They were quicker to the ball, precise with their passing, demonstrating the sort of crowd-pleasing football for which they are famed. Irresistible, you might say.
And they scored too, Abou Diaby's goal after 12 minutes a triumph for Arsenal's invention, although Liverpool goalkeeper Jose Reina should have done better at his near post.
Liverpool's Champions League hopes hung by the slenderest of threads at that moment.
We wondered whether Benitez for once had got it badly wrong.
The Liverpool line-up, a 4-4-2 formation with Crouch partnering Torres up front and Gerrard out on the left, could not have sent out a more positive message. But it also surrendered the compactness in midfield which had been such a feature of their three other meetings with Arsenal this season.
Tempo and rhythm are fragile commodities, however, and the Arsenal majesty was torn asunder by a magnificent Sami Hyypia header from a corner for the equaliser after half an hour.
The sigh of relief which wafted up the Mersey was enough to alert the shipping forecast.
That was nothing compared with what was to come.
Theo Walcott's wonderful run for Emmanuel Adebayor's goal. Then the penalty.
Then the clincher from Babel when Arsenal's legs and lungs were all but spent.
Footballers deservedly get their fair share of bad press.
But this was a night for Liverpool and Arsenal and the world's most popular sport to take a bow.
Simply magnificent.
Nobody does it better. No football team does European nights quite like Liverpool at Anfield.
No sportsmen surely do excitement and frantic drama quite like the footballers of the English Premier League.
That was the conclusion after Liverpool beat Arsenal 4-2 on the night, 5-3 on aggregate, to progress to the semi-finals of the Champions League for the third time in four seasons.
There they will meet Chelsea yet again, for the fourth time in the competition in as many years, after the Londoners eased through their quarter-final against Fenerbahce.
Let's not forget Arsenal.
Their spirit was dogged, their football fabulous but their season now is surely over with manager Arsene Wenger having to make sense of two months in which they have simply imploded.
And the big question was: How does Rafael Benitez do it?
How does he constantly struggle to make an impact in the Premier League but consistently outwit his managerial colleagues when his players pull on their European shirts?
One answer would be Fernando Torres.
The Spaniard cost more than £25m but the vital goal he scored in the second half was his 29th of a season which is rapidly fast-tracking him to the sort of legend enjoyed by Kevin Keegan, Kenny Dalglish, Ian Rush and Michael Owen.
Another would be captain Steven Gerrard, who coolly slotted the penalty which ostensibly won the match after Kolo Toure was deemed to have pulled down Ryan Babel.
Modestly, Gerrard insisted: "It was one of the worst performances I've ever put in in a Liverpool shirt."
That was nonsense but says much of the standard this Liverpool team has set themselves in Europe.
The truth is that this victory was partly down to the industry and sheer bloody-minded determination of men such as Torres, Gerrard and Peter Crouch and the excellent Xabi Alonso.
And partly down to the strategist in Benitez who juggled his resources, switched his formation and had faith in the spirit of his side even when Arsenal scored the second away goal which they must have thought would take them through.
Mostly, however, it was down to the special atmosphere at Anfield.
Much has been written about it.
From the days of Kevin Keegan and John Toshack and Emlyn Hughes and supersub David Fairclough, the latter scoring the winner in a 3-1 European Cup quarter final victory against St Etienne back in 1977 which is still regarded by many as Anfield's most memorable night.
In modern times John Terry admitted the Kop had terrified the life out of his Chelsea side in the semi-final three years ago.
There is no doubt that when Liverpool were down, when Arsenal had wrested the initiative, it was that support which again made the difference.
And yet Wenger's side could hardly have made a better start, so much so that it is doubtful any side in the world could have lived with them in that first half hour.
They were quicker to the ball, precise with their passing, demonstrating the sort of crowd-pleasing football for which they are famed. Irresistible, you might say.
And they scored too, Abou Diaby's goal after 12 minutes a triumph for Arsenal's invention, although Liverpool goalkeeper Jose Reina should have done better at his near post.
Liverpool's Champions League hopes hung by the slenderest of threads at that moment.
We wondered whether Benitez for once had got it badly wrong.
The Liverpool line-up, a 4-4-2 formation with Crouch partnering Torres up front and Gerrard out on the left, could not have sent out a more positive message. But it also surrendered the compactness in midfield which had been such a feature of their three other meetings with Arsenal this season.
Tempo and rhythm are fragile commodities, however, and the Arsenal majesty was torn asunder by a magnificent Sami Hyypia header from a corner for the equaliser after half an hour.
The sigh of relief which wafted up the Mersey was enough to alert the shipping forecast.
That was nothing compared with what was to come.
Theo Walcott's wonderful run for Emmanuel Adebayor's goal. Then the penalty.
Then the clincher from Babel when Arsenal's legs and lungs were all but spent.
Footballers deservedly get their fair share of bad press.
But this was a night for Liverpool and Arsenal and the world's most popular sport to take a bow.
Simply magnificent.
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