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Liverpool's young squad had entered 2001 chasing three trophies and a
place in the Champions League, when Gerard Houllier decided to bolster
his options with the signing of experienced playmaker Jari Litmanen. The
Finland captain, a legend in Amsterdam after seven trophy-laden years
with Ajax, moved to Anfield on a free transfer from Barcelona and
immediately set about winning his new fans over. Wearing the distinctive
number 37 shirt, Litmanen made his Reds debut as a substitute in the
first leg of a League Cup semi-final clash with Crystal Palace, and duly
set up Vladimir Smicer for a vital away goal. Three days later, the
Finn ran the game as Liverpool won 3-0 at Villa Park on his first league
start; Danny Murphy scoring two and Steven Gerrard one. Jari scored his
first goal for the club in February, a penalty at Sunderland's Stadium
of Light, before a stellar first-half performance in a 4-2 FA Cup win
over Manchester City that saw him score a penalty and set up a goal for
Heskey. An injury in that game forced him to miss Liverpool's League Cup
Final win over Birmingham in Cardiff, before a brief comeback was
halted by a broken wrist on international duty, ironically against
England at Anfield.
That put him out for the rest of the season, as the
Reds capped a remarkable campaign with memorable wins over Arsenal,
Alaves and Charlton to seal two more trophies and a place in the
Champions League. The following campaign began with Litmanen returning
to Finland to star in a Champions League qualifier in Helsinki before
two Anfield winning goals in the space of a week in late September; a
stunning long range effort against Spurs and a poacher's effort that saw
off Dynamo Kiev in the Champions League (see photo above, Jari saluting the kop after his goal).
Injuries again restricted Litmanen's involvement, but he scored twice
in quick succession again around Christmas, in a defeat to Arsenal then a
win at Villa; a bizarre goal that arrived after Peter Schmeichel threw a
clearance against the back of referee Andy D'Urso. Liverpool were
playing well, and Jari's goal in a win at Fulham in March kept them hot
on the heels of league leaders Arsenal, but as ever it was the Champions
League that got the crowds rocking at Anfield.
The Reds took on Fabio
Capello's Roma in the final game of the second group phase knowing that
they needed to win by two clear goals to progress. An already crackling
atmosphere was stoked even more by the surprising return of Houllier to
the dugout, just five months after life saving heart surgery. Spurred
on, the Reds flew at the Romans and Litmanen's early penalty was added
to by a towering header from Emile Heskey (see below) to send them through to the
quarters, where, despite another Jari goal, their dream died on a
topsy-turvy night in Germany as a Michael Ballack inspired Bayer
Leverkusen won 4-3 on aggregate. Despite nine wins from their last ten
league games, Liverpool had to settle for second place behind Arsenal,
and when Houllier brought in the likes of Milan Baros and El-Hadji
Diouf, an injury-hit Litmanen was allowed to return to Ajax on a free
transfer, no doubt leaving Liverpool's young players richer for the
experience of having played with him. (Mark Jones)
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