Liverpool stun Barca

LONDON – Liverpool beat Barcelona 2-1 at the Nou Camp on Wednesday leaving the European champions facing the real danger of an exit from this season’s competition in the first knockout round.

Liverpool’s scorers were Craig Bellamy and John-Arne Riise, the two men at the heart of a fracas at their training camp in Portugal in the build-up to the match. Deco had put Barca ahead with an early header but Bellamy (43) and Riise (74) sent rthe Spanish sidly their second defeat in their last 20 Champions League matches.Inter Milan, who have not lost a competitive match since September, were held 2-2 at the San Siro with David Silva grabbing a draw for Valencia three minutes from time.Chelsea drew 1-1 at Porto and AS Roma were held 0-0 by Olympique Lyon in a game of 11 yellow cards in the night’s other two matches.Raul Meireles scored for Porto after 12 minutes but Andriy Shevchenko equalised with a left-foot shot four minutes later.The second legs will be played on March 6.Meanwhile, Lille director general Xavier Thuilot implied Manchester United should be thrown out of the Champions League following incidents involving their supporters in Tuesday night’s match.Thuilot compared the situation to the exclusion of Dutch club Feyenoord from Europe’s second-tier competition following trouble by their supporters at French club Nancy in December.Echoes of the Hillsborough tragedy were seen in the encounter at the Felix-Bollaert stadium, won 1-0 by United after a disputed Ryan Giggs freekick, when French riot police used tear gas to quell what they believed was an uncontrollable situation unfolding.Hemmed-in supporters behind one of the goals came through a gap in the perimeter fencing after about 5 000 fans were squeezed together on a terrace designed for just 3 500.Thuilot, alongside club president Michel Seydoux, said at a press conference early yesterday: “Uefa gave the green light to our security measures on the morning of the match so if they punish us they are in effect punishing themselves.”Manchester United are imposing their own brand of the law to Lille football club, to the Felix-Bollaert stadium and to Uefa.Nampa-ReutersDeco had put Barca ahead with an early header but Bellamy (43) and Riise (74) sent rthe Spanish sidly their second defeat in their last 20 Champions League matches.Inter Milan, who have not lost a competitive match since September, were held 2-2 at the San Siro with David Silva grabbing a draw for Valencia three minutes from time.Chelsea drew 1-1 at Porto and AS Roma were held 0-0 by Olympique Lyon in a game of 11 yellow cards in the night’s other two matches.Raul Meireles scored for Porto after 12 minutes but Andriy Shevchenko equalised with a left-foot shot four minutes later.The second legs will be played on March 6.Meanwhile, Lille director general Xavier Thuilot implied Manchester United should be thrown out of the Champions League following incidents involving their supporters in Tuesday night’s match.Thuilot compared the situation to the exclusion of Dutch club Feyenoord from Europe’s second-tier competition following trouble by their supporters at French club Nancy in December.Echoes of the Hillsborough tragedy were seen in the encounter at the Felix-Bollaert stadium, won 1-0 by United after a disputed Ryan Giggs freekick, when French riot police used tear gas to quell what they believed was an uncontrollable situation unfolding.Hemmed-in supporters behind one of the goals came through a gap in the perimeter fencing after about 5 000 fans were squeezed together on a terrace designed for just 3 500.Thuilot, alongside club president Michel Seydoux, said at a press conference early yesterday: “Uefa gave the green light to our security measures on the morning of the match so if they punish us they are in effect punishing themselves.”Manchester United are imposing their own brand of the law to Lille football club, to the Felix-Bollaert stadium and to Uefa.Nampa-Reuters