A night that goes into the history books in Debrecen, for the first time in the club's history the team managed to qualify for the Champions League and the first game was to be played at Anfield Road, home of the world class side, Liverpool.

 

Our players who have never played against such quality as Steven Gerrard or Fernando Torres whose yearly salary is probably higher than our clubs budget, were optimistic but everyone knew it would be very tough indeed.

"We came here with our heads held high and this is the way we want to return home." said manager András Herczeg in the pre-match press conference, but not many believed that the tiny Debrecen can keep it close against their giant rivals.

 

Almost three thousand Hungarian supporters followed the team to Liverpool and they provided a home-like atmosphere in the stadium outcheering their English counterparts more often than not.

 

As expected Liverpool dominated possession from the first minute but their dominance was mostly only passing the ball about they did not really got close to Poleksic's goal. Loki who were missing Varga and Rudolf from their starting eleven were forced to a 100 per cent concentration throughout the game and their energy was more or less used to fulfill the defensive duties. The Debrecen players put their heart and soul into the game and midway through the first half they managed to perform some attacking plays as well which resulted in a Czvitkovics shot that brought the best out of Liverpool goalie Reina to tip the ball over the bar.

 

The last ten minutes of the first half saw total domination from the world class team, they wanted to make the difference before the half time whistle and their efforts were rewarded in injury time when Kuyt scored from the rebound after a magnificient save from Poleksic.

 

The second half was more or less the same as the first one, Liverpool attacked, Debrecen defended, but the pressure was not as high as in the first one. Some of the Liverpool supporters were annoyed by the mistakes their favourites made on the pitch but as they say every team can play as much as they are allowed so Loki deserves a pat on the back for their well organised defence in the entire game.

 

Although the scoreline could have been worse, the 1-0 loss against such a high profile opposition is something everybody can be proud of. The Debrecen team showed merit and proved that they deserve to be there alongside the elite of Europe.