Real Madrid target Xabi Alonso made a brief appearance as a strong Liverpool team suffered a heavy 3-0 defeat to Espanyol in Spain.
Midfielder Alonso came off the bench with six minutes remaining as Espanyol officially opened their new stadium, and reports in Spain indicate it may be his final appearance for Liverpool.
Luis Garcia - a namesake of the former Liverpool player - put Mauricio Pochettino's side ahead after 19 minutes and former Chelsea reserve Ben Sahar scored a second-half double to give Espanyol an impressive win.
The Barcelona-based team struggled to put teams under pressure at their previous ground, Montjuic, where the stands were far away from the pitch. But the home side were able to feel the warmth of a sell-out crowd at their new home in Cornella-El Prat, and looked to boss the game early on.
Liverpool began well and Steven Gerrard tried his luck from long range early on, only to see his effort sail wide. The Reds captain then almost gave the visitors the lead after 18 minutes, when he crashed a fierce effort against the bar.
A minute later, Liverpool were behind as former Celtic midfielder Shunsuke Nakamura played in Luis Garcia and the Spain forward beat international team-mate Jose Reina with a neat low finish.
Gerrard curled a free-kick against the post from 20 yards eight minutes later as Rafael Benitez's side sought a quick response.
Philipp Degen, Andrea Dossena, Ryan Babel and Jay Spearing came on for the visitors at the break, replacing Glen Johnson, Emiliano Insua, Yossi Benayoun and Javier Mascherano.
Espanyol made five changes themselves, but displayed more urgency and went 2-0 up after 62 minutes. Jose Callejon's pass found Sahar in the area, and the Israel striker slid the ball under Reina.
Benitez brought on Albert Riera, Andriy Voronin, David N'Gog and Damien Plessis late on, and Alonso made his brief appearance six minutes from the end. But Espanyol wrapped up a fine win minutes before the end, when Sahar netted after Reina could only parry Ferran Corominas' close-range effort.
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The defeat means Alonso's presence is still bringing confusion in the dressing room.The earlier this is sorted out the better.Alonso didnt even play with some dedication.SO.....
it's just preseason tuning up-don't wanna get booked and don't wanna get injured- just a nice work-out in the sun and then when the season starts and it really matters- give it hell! No, there'll never be another King Kenny...but this team is capabe of winning everything this season- consistency's the key- we can beat all the top teams- just
gotta put the minnows away- develop a stronger killer instinct- like the one we showed against the english champions last season- christ- old bluenose must still be having nightmares about that!!!!!!!!
darren.powis #8
This comment is pure genius. Deluded Patsypool fans need to see this more often. Do you mind if I use sometimes? I’ll credit you. Sheer brilliance.
Matthew o # 5
They have to throw us a few crumbs, otherwise to tell you the truth they get bored and it keeps them entertained as they watch us frantically falling over each other trying to keep up in the end of season 'run-in'. What a laugh. Fergie's no fool you know.
You must be as deluded as 'Deluded' Darren (m), the deluded Man Shi**y fan or as deluded as the deluded people of Patsypool who are so far up my own deluded ar*se that they can see Rafa Benitez's deluded feet in the distance.
degan or hansen! babel or barnes!benayoun or beardsley! dossena or nichol! mascherano or souness! gerrard or dalgliesh! kyut or aldridge! even torres or rush! yeh liverpool have a team that can win the title for sure now, even got a super sub ngog hes much better than fairclough!
well done matthew for spotting the fact that liverpool beat utd twice last season so heres to the new trophy called the scousers do utd twice in a season just for you, im sure anfield can fit it in their trophy room!!!! we will make do with what we won!
and you still finished 2nd matthew
here man utd nobheads we beat you 1-4 without alonso and we beat you 2-1 without torres and gerrard only played 30mins
wow - obviously all preseason results reflect on a premiership campaign - tell it to spurs they won every preseason game last year then look how it went for them
lol
yes it is. They are going to win it just like last year and the year before.....
is this the same liverpool who expect to run away with the title this season ?
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