1-1 Brings Back Bad Memories (or not) and Europe has no Interest in Scousers v Chelski

I'll start with a quick few thoughts on last night's result/game but I'm not and never will give a "match report", you all saw it or can read one of 100s of reports in the media. At the end of the game against Villarreal I think I had, in the space of about 30 seconds, three different reactions to the result. I can't quite remember the exact order in which they came but I did certainly feel all three sensations.

Disappointment - summed up by thoughts such as "we could have gone on and won that game in the second half",  "oh no, 1-1, that just makes me think of Wayne Bridge in 2004 and Isaias in 1991", "they look like they will score at our place" and my favourite, "when will we learn how to defend set pieces"

Relief - "Blimey at half-time I'd have taken a 2-1 or even a 1-0 defeat with our performance and injuries", "I'm glad they tired in the second half"

Pride - "Finally we actually started to show grit away from home, got an away goal and will easily beat them at home", "Can't see their strikers scoring, I mean, they didn't test Fabianski after his first two saves"

So despite the obvious contradictions between these feelings and after a little more reflection I came to the conclusion it was a little bit of all three and the second leg is going to be one of those incredibly tense evenings that we've missed out on for the last couple of seasons. Is it me or has the whole philosophy of European football done a 180 degree turn in the last 10 years. Commentators still talk about the "advantage" of having the second leg at home but is it still the case. We've had better results playing the first leg at home (though it's not an open and shut argument on which is best for us) and playing the second leg away gives you that advantage (if the first leg is tight) of scaring the opposition by the sheer thought of conceding an away goal. Never mind I can't wait till next week to see it all unfold.

Meanwhile, here in Central Europe, it seems the whole region has expressed complete disinterest in the Liverpool/Chelsea game as French, Swiss, German (fair enough), Austrian (?) and Italian TV are all showing the Barcelona game. People may say it's the glamour of the Spanish side or the more intriguing fixture - I say they've seen enough boring shite over the last five years to want to watch another episode.