Liverpool had a number of famous European nights during Rafael Benitez's time in charge of the club, making a number of deep runs in the Champions League.
They beat most of the top teams in Europe over the course of that period. However, few wins would have been sweeter than their victory over Barcelona in 2007.
The La Liga club entered the last-16 tie as defending champions, having beaten Arsenal in the final the year before. It was expected to be a competitive tie, but few would have predicted that Liverpool would win the first leg away from home. That's exactly what they did, with goals from Craig Bellamy and John Arne Riise leading them to a 2-1 victory at the Camp Nou.
📅 #OnThisDay in 2007
Barcelona 1-2 Liverpool
⚽️ Bellamy
⚽️ @JARiiseOfficial pic.twitter.com/V8vQIM4GG7— The Redmen TV (@TheRedmenTV) February 21, 2021
Of course, the result was made all the more remarkable by the fact that those two goalscorers were involved in a massive bust-up only days before the fixture.
John Arne Riise on Craig Bellamy fight
The background to the incident is well known by now. On a team trip to Portugal the week before the Barcelona game, John Arne Riise and Craig Bellamy had a major falling out that resulted in the latter attacking his teammate with a golf club.
It all stemmed from a disagreement over karaoke, with the Welshman pestering the Norwegian to sing in front of the team.
Speaking to Filthy Fellas this week, Riise opened up further on the incident, recalling how taken aback he was with Bellamy's actions at the time.
This story is hilarious pic.twitter.com/BJHV4dh6Us
— Nazty (@Naztee196) July 20, 2022
The whole dinner he sat there saying 'Riise is gonna sing, Riise is gonna sing'. I said 'I'm not going to sing', but he just kept going. I didn't drink, some other people did.
After dinner we went to a karaoke place and Bellamy took the microphone and said 'Riise is gonna sing' again. I just lost it. I went up to him and said 'I'm not fucking singing, so shut the fuck up or I'm going to smash you'.
I was rooming Daniel Agger in the hotel. I could hear some keys in the door and I thought it might be Agger coming home, but then the lights came on...
I've turned around there is Bellamy with a golf club in his hands. I'm lying in the bed and he comes in and starts shouting stuff like 'I don't care what happens'. I could see he was not sober.
Then he took a swing at my shins. I've took this sheet and said 'let's do this the proper way'. He just said 'I don't care if I go to jail, my kids have got enough money, I'm going to fuck you up, nobody talks to me like this in front of my players'.
Then he swung and I blocked it with my shin.
While he was standing there I was thinking 'if I do something now, I will lose my career at Liverpool'. I said lets meet tomorrow, so we agreed to do that.
The next morning at 9 o'clock I walked to his room with Daniel Agger, knocked on his door but he wasn't there. Then he came in five minutes later and didn't even look at me. We had a meeting with Benitez, he said the case was closed because we've got a big game in two or three days.
The incident caused quite a storm at the time, although the players involved seemed to quickly move on. Bellamy even celebrated his goal against Barcelona with a golf swing to poke fun at what had occurred.
The forward would leave Liverpool that summer, although he would return for another spell at Anfield in 2011. As for Riise, he would spend one more season at the club before signing for Roma in 2008.
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