Result: Basle 3 Liverpool 3 (HT: 3-0)
I must admit first of all that I am writing this without having watched the game. I have however seen the Liverpool goals and one that stood out in particular was Michael Owen's goal from a rebound off another missed penalty. Ultimately though, not even that lucky third goal was enough as a draw was only enough for a place in the UEFA Cup.
That summed up Liverpool's night and in a sense Liverpool's season so far. It is becoming a strange habit as their star striker continues to miss penalties while the rest of his teammates allow him to take the penalties in the first place.
Everyone knows Owen is a confident young man but surely even he knows that it may be time for him to put selfish thoughts aside and relinquish penalty taking duties before it costs Liverpool further misery.
The early season worries of Owen's lack of form has now been replaced by an over-reliance on Owen as a source of goals (re: recent hattricks against Man City and Spartak Moscow, a double strike against Westham and the winning penalty (thankfully despatched) against Spurs) and it certainly doesn't help the cause with Houllier's insistence on playing 4-5-1 (re: a case of the 'fergies')
In addition, the famed Liverpool backline was once again exposed (re: the 2-2 draws with Newcastle and Birmingham early in the season) and Liverpool fans may still be wondering whatever happened. Maybe the English FA should consider inviting Basle to join the Premier League. After all, they've already beaten Celtic and now drawn twice with the Reds, knocking both out of the Champions' League and clearly showing that they have the better of British teams.