2004–05 Liverpool F.C. season

Liverpool

2004–05 season
Liverpool players during their UEFA Champions League victory parade, 2005
Chairman	David Moores
Manager	Rafael Benitez
Stadium	Anfield
Premier League	5th
FA Cup	Third round
League Cup	Runners-up
UEFA Champions League	Winners
Top goalscorer	League: Milan Baroš (9) All: Milan Baroš Luis García Steven Gerrard (13 each)
Average home league attendance	42,586[1]
Home colours Away colours Third colours
← 2003–04 2005–06 →

The 2004–05 season was the 113th season of competitive football played by Liverpool. It began on 1 July 2004 and concluded on 30 June 2005, with competitive matches played between August and May. Liverpool finished fourth in the previous Premier League season. However, they were unable to improve on this position finishing in fifth place, 37 points behind eventual winners Chelsea with a record of 17 wins, 7 draws and 14 defeats. Liverpool fared better in cup competitions. Although they were eliminated by Burnley in the third round of the FA Cup, they reached the final of the League Cup, which they lost 3–2 to Chelsea. Despite their lack of success domestically, Liverpool were successful in the UEFA Champions League. They won the competition for the fifth time, defeating Italian team Milan in the final.

Liverpool acquired eight players in the transfer market, including Djibril Cissé, Xabi Alonso and Luis García. They were supplemented by the arrival of Mauricio Pellegrino, Fernando Morientes and Scott Carson during the January transfer window. A total of four players departed including Markus Babbel, Danny Murphy and Michael Owen, who were all transferred in the summer transfer window. Stéphane Henchoz left the club during the winter transfer window.

Thirty-two different players represented the club in four competitions, and there were 17 different goalscorers. Liverpool's top goalscorer were Milan Baroš, Steven Gerrard and García with 13 goals each. Defender John Arne Riise made the most appearances during the season with 57.

Background[]

Transfers[]

In[]

No.	Position	Player	Transferred from	Fee	Date	Ref
9	FW	Djibril Cissé	Auxerre	£14,500,000	1 July 2004	[2]
17	DF	Josemi	Málaga	£2,000,000	28 July 2004	[3]
18	MF	Antonio Núñez	Real Madrid	£1,500,000	17 August 2004	[4]
14	MF	Xabi Alonso	Real Sociedad	£10,700,000	20 August 2004	[5]
10	MF	Luis García	Barcelona	£6,000,000	20 August 2004	[6]
12	DF	Mauricio Pellegrino	Valencia	Free	5 January 2005	[7]
19	FW	Fernando Morientes	Real Madrid	£6,300,000	13 January 2005	[8]
20	GK	Scott Carson	Leeds United	£1,000,000	21 January 2005	[9]

Out[]

No.	Position	Player	Transferred to	Fee	Date	Ref
6	DF	Markus Babbel	VfB Stuttgart	Free	16 July 2004	[10]
13	MF	Danny Murphy	Charlton Athletic	£2,500,000	10 August 2004	[11]
10	FW	Michael Owen	Real Madrid	£8,000,000 + Antonio Núñez	14 August 2004	[12]
2	DF	Stéphane Henchoz	Celtic	Free	28 January 2005	[13]

Pre-season matches[]

2004–05 Pre-season matches^[14]

Date	Opponents	Venue	Result	Score	Scorers	Attendance
21 July 2004	Wrexham	A	W	2–1	Le Tallec (2) 24', 78'	14,978
27 July 2004	Celtic	N	W	5–1	Riise 5', Owen 36', Cissé (2) 62', 76', Henchoz 69'	24,271
31 July 2004	Porto	N	L	0–1		40,078
31 July 2004	Roma	N	W	2–1	Cissé 30', Owen 85'	25,028

Premier League[]

A total of 20 teams competed in the Premier League in the 2004–05 season. Each team played 38 matches; two against every other team and one match at each club's stadium. Three points were awarded for each win, one point per draw, and none for defeats. At the end of the season the top two teams qualified for the group stages of the UEFA Champions League; teams in third and fourth needed to play a qualifier.^[15] The provisional fixture list was released on 24 June 2004, but was subject to change in the event of clashes with other competitions, international football, inclement weather, or matches being selected for television coverage.^[16]

August–October[]

Liverpool travelled to Tottenham Hotspur on the opening weekend of the season. Djibril Cissé scored on his league debut to give Liverpool the lead in the first half but an equaliser from Jermain Defoe in the second half meant the match finished 1–1.^[17] The following weekend, Liverpool hosted Manchester City at Anfield. City took the lead at the end of the first half when former Liverpool striker, Nicolas Anelka scored. However, a goal three minutes into the second half from Milan Baroš and another from Steven Gerrard in the 75th minute meant Liverpool won the match 2–1.^[18] A trip to the Reebok Stadium to face Bolton Wanderers was next for Liverpool. Luis García, making his debut, had a goal disallowed for offside before Kevin Davies 38th-minute goal secured a 1–0 win for Bolton.^[19] Due to international fixtures, Liverpool did not play another game for two weeks. When domestic football resumed, Liverpool faced West Bromwich at Anfield in their next natch. Goals from Gerrard, Steve Finnan and García secured a 3–0 win.^[20] Manager Rafael Benítez was encouraged by his side's performance: "It was perhaps the best performance so far because we scored three goals and had many possibilities, I'm a little closer to finding the balance, but I need more time — I cannot say how long, it's impossible to know, what we've seen is a better team — it's a small step, we need to do more."^[21]

Liverpool's next match was against rivals Manchester United at their home ground, Old Trafford. A Mikaël Silvestre opened the scoring for United in the 20th minute but an own goal by defender John O'Shea levelled the score 14 minutes later. Captain Gerrard went off with injury after 40 minutes and Liverpool struggled to create more chances, with a further goal from Silvestre secured a 2–1 win for United.^[22] A home match against Norwich City was next for Liverpool. Goals from Baroš, García and Cissé secured a 3–0 win.^[23]

League table[]

Pos	Team v t	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
3	Manchester United	38	22	11	5	58	26	+32	77	Qualification for the Champions League third qualifying round
4	Everton	38	18	7	13	45	46	−1	61
5	Liverpool	38	17	7	14	52	41	+11	58	Qualification for the Champions League first qualifying round[a]
6	Bolton Wanderers	38	16	10	12	49	44	+5	58	Qualification for the UEFA Cup first round[b]
7	Middlesbrough	38	14	13	11	53	46	+7	55

Results summary[]

Overall								Home						Away
Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD
38	17	7	14	52	41	+11	58	12	4	3	31	15	+16	5	3	11	21	26	−5

Results by round[]

FA Cup[]

Liverpool entered the competition in the third round, as a result of their Premier League status. Their opponents in the third round were Burnley. The match was played at Burnley's home ground, Turf Moor, with Liverpool resting several regular first-team players and opting to field "a collection of reserve and youth team players" according to The Guardian.^[26] The decision was unsuccessful. Burnley won the match 1–0 due to an own goal by defender Djimi Traor�� in the second half.^[27]

2004–05 FA Cup matches

Round	Date	Opponents	Venue	Result	Score	Scorers	Attendance	Ref
Third round	18 January 2005	Burnley	A	L	0–1		19,033	[27]

League Cup[]

Liverpool entered the League Cup in the third round due to them qualifying for European competition, their opponents were Millwall. A "second-string Liverpool", according to BBC Sport, won 3–0 courtesy of a goal from Salif Diao in the first half and two from Milan Baroš in the second.^[28] They were drawn against fellow Premier League team Middlesbrough in the fourth round. Two goals from Neil Mellor secured a 2–0 win for Liverpool to progress to the quarter-finals.^[29] Benítez opted to field a reserve side again against Tottenham Hotspur, in a match which went to extra time after a goalless first 90 minutes. Tottenham opened the scoring in the 108th minute when Jermain Defoe scored from a Frederic Kanoute cross. Three minutes before the end, Liverpool were awarded a penalty kick after Kanoute handled the ball in the Tottenham penalty area. Florent Sinama-Pongolle scored from the penalty spot to level the match at 1–1 and set up a penalty shoot-out, which Liverpool won 4–3.^[30]

Liverpool were drawn against Championship side Watford in the semi-finals. Played over two-legs, Liverpool won the first leg at Anfield 1–0 after Gerrard scored in the 56th minute.^[31] The second leg at Watford's home ground, Vicarage Road, was "a game of few chances" according to BBC Sport. A goal from Gerrard in the 77th minute secured a 1–0 victory, and a 2–0 win on aggregate to secure Liverpool's place in the final.^[32] Liverpool faced Chelsea in the final, which Benítez felt would favour Liverpool: "There will be more pressure on them, they have spent a lot of money and are the best team in the league, because they are in first position, but they've lost their last two important games. That means they will be under pressure. People will see them as the favourites, I'm sure, so the pressure is on them and not us."^[33]

Liverpool took the lead within a minute of the kick-off. A cross from Fernando Morientes was met by John Arne Riise, who volleyed the ball past Petr Čech in the Chelsea goal. It was the fastest goal scored in a League Cup final.^[34] The score remained 1–0 until the 79th minute when Gerrard scored an own goal, after he headed a Chelsea free-kick into his own goal. The match finished 1–1 after 90minutes and wen to extra-time. Chelsea took the lead in the 197th minute when Didier Drogba scored and they extended their lead further six minutes later following a Mateja Kežman goal. Liverpool scored through Antonio Núñez a minute later, but they were unable to score another goal and Chelsea won the match 3–2 to win the League Cup.^[35]

2004–05 League Cup matches

Round	Date	Opponents	Venue	Result	Score	Scorers	Attendance	Ref
Third round	26 October 2004	Millwall	A	W	3–0	Diao 18', Baroš (2) 70', 80'	17,655	[28]
Fourth round	10 November 2004	Middlesbrough	H	W	2–0	Mellor (2) 83', 89'	28,176	[29]
Quarter-final	1 December 2004	Tottenham Hotspur	A	W	1–1 4–3 (pen.)	Sinama Pongolle 117' pen.	46,100	[30]
Semi-final	11 January 2005	Watford	H	W	1–0	Gerrard 56'	35,739	[31]
Semi-final	25 January 2005	Watford	A	W	1–0	Gerrard 77'	19,797	[32]
Final	27 February 2005	Chelsea	N	L	2–3 (a.e.t.)	Riise 1', Núñez 113'	78,000	[35]

UEFA Champions League[]

As Liverpool had finished fourth in the league the previous season, they needed to play a qualifying round against Grazer AK to ensure progression into the group stages. Liverpool won the first leg 2–0 courtesy of two goals from Gerrard.^[36] They lost the second leg 1–0 at Anfield, a Mario Tokić goal securing victory for Grazer, but they progressed 2–1 on aggregate.^[37] Liverpool were drawn in Group A along with Deportivo La Coruña, Monaco and Olympiacos.^[38]

Liverpool won their first match against Monaco at Anfield 2–0, courtesy of goals from Cissé and Baroš.^[39] A 1–0 loss against Olympiacos at the Karaiskakis Stadium was the first time Liverpool had lost to Greek opposition.^[40] Deportivo La Coruña were the opposition in Liverpool's third group game at Anfield. The match ended 0–0 with Liverpool dominating the game and lacking a 'cutting edge' according to BBC Sport.^[41] Liverpool won the reverse fixture at the Estadio Riazor 1–0 thanks to an own goal by Deportivo defender Jorge Andrade.^[42] A 1–0 defeat to Monaco at the Stade Louis II meant Liverpool needed to win their final match against Olympiacos at Anfield by two clear goals to progress to the knockout stages.^[43][44] Liverpool started the game well but went behind to a free-kick from Rivaldo. This meant they needed to score three goals to ensure they progressed to the next round. Sinama-Pongolle levelled the scores in the 47th minute after coming on as a substitute at half-time. Mellor scored a second in the 81st minute to put Liverpool ahead. In the 86th minute, Gerrard's "stunning half-volley, speared majestically from the edge of the area," according to The Guardian secured a 3–1 victory and Liverpool's place in the round of 16. Gerrard was delighted with the result after it looked like Liverpool might exit the competition after falling a goal behind in the first half: "I'd be a liar if I didn't say I thought we were down and out at the break. They were spoiling the game and were strong defensively, so there was a mountain to climb at half-time."^[45][46]

Liverpool were drawn against Bayer Leverkusen of Germany in the round of 16.^[47] Liverpool took the lead in the first leg at Anfield when García scored in the 15th minute. Riise scored from a free-kick in the 35th minute to make it 2–0 and Hamman added a third in the second half. An error in the last minute by goalkeeper Jerzy Dudek saw França score for Leverkusen to make the score 3–1 at full-time.^[48] The second leg at Leverkusen's home ground, the BayArena finished with the same scoreline. Two goals in quick succession in the first half by García, was followed by a goal from Baroš in the second half. Jacek Krzynówek scored late in the match, but Liverpool's 3–1 victory meant they won 6–2 on aggregate to progress to the quarter-finals.^[49] Liverpool were drawn against Juventus. This was the first time the clubs had met since the Heysel Stadium disaster at the 1985 European Cup Final, where 39 people, many of them Juventus supporters, lost their lives.^[50] Liverpool took the lead in the first leg at Anfield in the tenth minute when Sami Hyypiä scored and García added a second fifteen minutes later. Juventus replied in the second half, when Liverpool goalkeeper Scott Carson allowed a Fabio Cannavaro header to slip through his fingers. But they were unable to score a second goal and the match finished 2–1.^[51] Liverpool captain Gerrard was pleased with the result and optimistic about their prospects in the second leg: "I was delighted with the first half, unfortunately the first half and second half were very different. They pressed us back after the break and made it difficult for us to keep the ball. The blow was conceding a goal in the second half," added the captain Steven Gerrard. "I'm sure Scott will be disappointed with it but to be fair to him he stopped one in the first half and it was one of the best saves I've seen all season. It means we've got to keep a clean sheet over there, but we won't play for a 0-0 in the second leg. We've got the ability to nick a goal so that will be our game plan and if we keep a clean sheet we're into the last four."^[52] Liverpool progressed to the semi-finals after a 0–0 draw in a game of few chances at Juventus' home ground, the Stadio Delle Alpi.^[53]

Liverpool faced Chelsea in the semi-finals, who were the favourites as they had already beaten Liverpool three times during the season.^[54] The match was a close match with both sides close to scoring in the early stages. Riise and Baros missed chances for Liverpool, while Didier Drogba and Frank Lampard had chances to put Chelsea in the lead too. The second half was a 'sterile affair' according to BBC Sport with neither side able to score the match finished 0–0.^[55] Despite failing to score an away goal, Benítez was confident Liverpool would progress following the second leg at Anfield: "It is a good situation. We have very good supporters, they will be with us at Anfield and we need to win, we always have confidence and we need to believe in ourselves. We played a good game. The team worked hard and controlled the game, they had chances but a draw is a good result."^[56] Liverpool took the lead within the first four minutes at Anfield, when Baros beat Chelsea goalkeeper Petr Cech to the ball and García tapped the ball into Chelsea goal, despite the protestations of Chelsea players who claimed the ball hadn't gone over the line. For the remainder of the match, Liverpool withstood Chelsea's attacks, whose best chance came in the final minute when Eiður Guðjohnsen's volley went just wide of the Liverpool goal. A 1–0 victory meant Liverpool progressed to their first European Cup final since 1985.^[57] Chelsea manager was critical of the officials following over the Liverpool goal: "The linesman scored the goal. No one knows if that shot went over the line and you must be 100%, but they are in the final and from my heart I hope they win it. The night belongs to them and I don't want to criticise them."^[58] Goalscorer García was adamant the ball was over the line when he scored and was delighted to have reached a final in his first season at the club: "I hooked the ball towards the goal, I felt it went in and I am very happy now. When I arrived here last summer I was intent on winning some trophies, but I do not expect to get to the Champions League final in my first season in England. For us to get to the final is beyond all our dreams, and for me to score the goal is a special moment too."^[59]

Group A

Pos	Team v t	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Monaco	6	4	0	2	10	4	+6	12	Advance to knockout stage
2	Liverpool	6	3	1	2	6	3	+3	10
3	Olympiacos	6	3	1	2	5	5	0	10	Transfer to UEFA Cup
4	Deportivo La Coruña	6	0	2	4	0	9	−9	2

2004–05 UEFA Champions League matches

Round	Date	Opponents	Venue	Result	Score	Scorers	Attendance	Ref
Third qualifying round	10 August 2004	Grazer AK	A	W	2–0	Gerrard (2) 23', 79'	15,000	[36]
Third qualifying round	24 August 2004	Grazer AK	H	L	0–1		42,590	[37]
Group stage	15 September 2004	Monaco	H	W	2–0	Cissé 22', Baroš 84'	33,517	[39]
Group stage	28 September 2004	Olympiacos	A	L	0–1		33,000	[40]
Group stage	19 October 2004	Deportivo La Coruña	H	D	0–0		40,236	[41]
Group stage	3 November 2004	Deportivo La Coruña	A	W	1–0	Andrade 14' o.g.	32,000	[42]
Group stage	23 November 2004	Monaco	A	L	0–1		15,000	[44]
Group stage	8 December 2004	Olympiacos	H	W	3–1	Sinama Pongolle 47', Mellor 81', Gerrard 86'	42,045	[46]
Round of 16	22 February 2005	Bayer Leverkusen	H	W	3–1	García 15', Riise 35', Hamann 90'	40,942	[48]
Round of 16	9 March 2005	Bayer Leverkusen	A	W	3–1	García (2) 28', 32', Baroš 67'	23,000	[49]
Quarter final	5 April 2005	Juventus	H	W	2–1	Hyypiä 10', García 25'	41,216	[51]
Quarter final	13 April 2005	Juventus	A	D	0–0		50,000	[53]
Semi final	27 April 2005	Chelsea	A	D	0–0		40,497	[55]
Semi final	3 May 2005	Chelsea	H	W	1–0	García 4'	42,529	[57]
Final	25 May 2005	Milan	N	W	3–3 (a.e.t.) 3–2 (pen.)	Gerrard 54', Šmicer, 56', Alonso 60'	65,000	[61]

Squad statistics[]

Liverpool used a total of 32 players during the season, with 17 different goalscorers. There were also five squad members who did not make an appearance during the season. Riise featured in 57 matches, the most of any Liverpool player during the campaign. Carragher was the only player to appear in every Premier League match. Baroš, Gerrard and García were topscorers with 13 goals each.

Key

Numbers in parentheses denote appearances as substitute. Players with number struck through and marked left the club during the playing season.

Squad statistics^[62][63]

No.	Pos.	Nat.	Name	Premier League		FA Cup		League Cup		Champions League		Total		Discipline
				Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
1	GK	POL	Jerzy Dudek	24	0	1	0	6	0	10	0	41	0	1	0
2	DF	SUI	Stéphane Henchoz	0	0	0	0	3	0	1	0	4	0	0	0
3	DF	IRL	Steve Finnan	29 (4)	1	0	0	4 (1)	0	12 (2)	0	52	1	5	0
4	DF	FIN	Sami Hyypiä	32	2	1	0	1	0	15	1	49	3	4	0
5	FW	CZE	Milan Baroš	22 (4)	9	0 (1)	0	1 (3)	2	13 (1)	2	45	13	7	1
6	DF	NOR	John Arne Riise	34 (3)	6	0	0	3 (2)	1	15	1	57	8	2	0
7	MF	AUS	Harry Kewell	15 (3)	1	0	0	1	0	7 (5)	0	31	1	0	0
8	MF	ENG	Steven Gerrard	28 (2)	7	0	0	3	2	10	4	43	13	5	0
9	FW	FRA	Djibril Cissé	10 (6)	4	0	0	0	0	4 (5)	1	25	5	0	0
10	MF	ESP	Luis García	26 (3)	8	0	0	2 (1)	0	12	5	44	13	6	0
11	MF	CZE	Vladimír Šmicer	2 (8)	0	0	0	3	0	0 (6)	1	19	1	1	0
12	DF	ARG	Mauricio Pellegrino	11 (1)	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	13	0	1	0
13	MF	FRA	Anthony Le Tallec	2 (2)	0	0	0	0	0	1 (2)	0	7	0	0	0
14	MF	ESP	Xabi Alonso	20 (4)	2	0	0	0	0	7 (1)	1	32	3	4	0
15	MF	SEN	Salif Diao	4 (4)	0	0	0	3	1	1 (2)	0	14	1	3	0
16	MF	GER	Dietmar Hamann	23 (7)	0	0	0	3	0	8 (2)	1	43	1	11	0
17	DF	ESP	Josemi	13 (2)	0	0	0	1	0	5 (2)	0	23	0	5	1
18	MF	ESP	Antonio Núñez	8 (10)	0	0	0	2 (1)	1	2 (3)	0	26	1	2	1
19	FW	ESP	Fernando Morientes	12 (1)	3	0	0	2 (1)	1	0	0	15	3	1	0
20	GK	ENG	Scott Carson	4	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	5	0	0	0
21	DF	MLI	Djimi Traoré	18 (8)	0	1	0	5	0	10	0	42	0	3	0
22	GK	ENG	Chris Kirkland	10	0	0	0	0	0	4	0	14	0	0	0
23	DF	ENG	Jamie Carragher	38	0	0	0	3	0	15	0	56	0	8	0
24	FW	FRA	Florent Sinama Pongolle	6 (10)	2	1	0	4 (1)	1	0 (4)	1	26	4	1	0
25	MF	CRO	Igor Bišćan	8 (11)	2	1	0	4 (2)	0	8 (1)	0	35	2	2	0
28	DF	ENG	Stephen Warnock	11 (8)	0	1	0	3 (1)	0	2 (4)	0	30	0	3	0
31	DF	ENG	David Raven	0 (1)	0	1	0	1	0	0	0	3	0	1	0
32	MF	ENG	John Welsh	2 (1)	0	1	0	0 (2)	0	0 (1)	0	7	0	1	0
33	FW	ENG	Neil Mellor	6 (3)	2	0 (1)	0	4	2	1 (1)	1	16	5	2	0
34	MF	IRL	Darren Potter	0 (2)	0	1	0	3 (1)	0	1 (2)	0	10	0	0	0
37	DF	USA	Zak Whitbread	0	0	1	0	3	0	0	0	4	0	0	0
41	MF	ENG	Mark Smyth	0	0	0	0	0 (1)	0	0	0	1	0	0	0

See also[]

• 2004–05 in English football
• 2005 Champions League Final

Notes[]

References[]

External links[]

• 2004-05 Season at LFC History