With Liverpool lining up to play Ludogorets Razgrad in the Champions League – a competition they haven’t been in for the past five years, we take a look at the team that lined up in their last Champions League game against Fiorentina in December 2009 – a game in which they lost 2 – 1.
The side already knew they couldn’t progress to the next round, but the spine of the team remained strong, with Kuyt, Gerrard, Mascherano, Aquilani, Agger, and Skrtel running through the middle.
It’s also the first game that the injury prone Alberto Aquilani made one of his 28 appearances in his ill-fated stint at the club which saw him loaned out to Juventus and Milan before being sold on to Fiorentina.
Where Are They Now?
| Diego Cavalieri | Made just 8 appearances for Liverpool – never in the league. Moved on to Cesena and Brad Jones took his place at Liverpool. At Cesena he couldn’t dislodge the 41 year old keeper Fransesco Antonioli and moved on to Fluminese where he’s a regular – having made 68 league appearances for the club since 2011. |
| Emiliano Insua | Made 62 appearances for Liverpool over 4 seasons having joined from Boca Juniors initially on loan. Joined Galatasaray on loan before moving to Sporting CP – scoring on his debut in a 2 – 0 win over FC Zurich in the Europa League. Moved to Atletico Madrid who have now loaned him to Rayo Vallecano. |
| Martin Skrtel | Skrtel has made 247 appearances for Liverpool over 8 seasons after joining the club from Zenit St Petersburg in 2007 for a fee of £6.5 million. He was an ever present in the 2010-2011 season in the league and formed a great partnership with Daniel Agger over the seasons. |
| Daniel Agger | Agger became the most expensive Danish footballing export when his £6 million move to Liverpool went through in 2006. Formed a great partnership with Martin Skrtel and was known to maraud forward whenever the opportunity arose. Injury blighted his time at Liverpool with 2012/13 being the only time he managed over 30 league games. Replaced Jamie Carragher as Vice Captain. Moved back to Brondby at the beginning of this season. |
| Stephen Darby | Came through the ranks at Liverpool FC and made his first team appearance as a substitute in a League Cup defeat against Tottenham but the Fiorentina game was his first competitive start for Liverpool. Spent loan spells at Swindon Town, Notts County and Rochdale whilst at Liverpool before moving to Bradford City where he still plays. |
| Andrea Dossena | Played for Verona, Treviso and Udinese before moving to Liverpool in 2008. Made just 18 appearances and his form was never that good. Scored against Real Madrid in the Champions League and Manchester United at Old Trafford before being sold to Napoli. Moved back to the Premiership with Sunderland but is now a free agent. |
| Alberto Aquilani | Made just 28 appearances for Liverpool as the lad was made of glass and could never last a full 90 minutes. Managed to make more appearances for Juventus in his loan stint. Shame really as he looked like quite a gifted player on YouTube and Football Manager 😉 Trotting about in Italy for Fiorentina. |
| Javier Mascherano | Mascherano made 139 appearances for Liverpool overall, and as soon as he heard Roy Hodgson was coming – he wanted out. You couldn’t blame the lad really either. At the time, we were all disgusted with the way he handled it – but looking back – it was Roy Hodgson and I wanted out too. Now playing for Barcelona and still has a hundred million euro buyout clause. |
| Yossi Benayoun | Another player signed from West Ham and making over 100 appearances for the club. Scored some crucial goals in his time at the club including a header against Real Madrid – giving Liverpool a 1-0 win at the Bernabeu. Moved to Chelsea after Liverpool, then Arsenal & West Ham on loan. Is now at Maccabi Haifa and arguing with Joey Barton on Twitter. |
| Steven Gerrard | Came close to leaving Liverpool once but has only ever put on the Liverpool shirt. 672 appearances to date scoring 174 goals and still going strong, though age and pace may be catching up to him a little bit these days. Has a knack of picking out an inch perfect cross that even some top class strikers aren’t good enough to get onto sometimes. |
| Dirk Kuyt | The Duracell Bunny of the Liverpool team back in the day. Could and would play anywhere. Would even pour the beers at half time if you asked him to. Made over 30 league appearances a season for every season he played for Liverpool and scored some goals too. Was also frustrating at times but I loved him to bits. Now playing at Fenerbahce. |
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