NewsLiverpool's Greatest - No.54: Xabi Alonso
Years: 2004-2009
Appearances: 210
Goals: 19
Trophies: Champions League (2005), UEFA Super Cup (2005), FA Cup (2006)
Xabi Alonso is one of the best passers of a football to ever wear the Liverpool shirt.
And also to add to his impressive achievements as a Red is the fact he scored twice from inside his own half.
The Spaniard made an instant impression following his arrival from Real Sociedad, and that debut season on Merseyside in 2004-05 ended with Champions League glory.
Alonso completed the Reds’ remarkable comeback in the final against AC Milan in Istanbul, scoring the rebound from his saved penalty to make it 3-3 – the first spot-kick of his professional career.
An elegant presence in the middle of the pitch, he then played his part in the lifting of the UEFA Super Cup and FA Cup in 2005-06.
Those two goals from his own half came in 2006, first away at Luton Town in the FA Cup and then at home to Newcastle United.
The Kop came to christen Rafael Benitez’s central unit as the ‘best midfield in the world’, with Alonso – alongside the likes of Steven Gerrard and Javier Mascherano – helping the club become a force in European football, including another run to the Champions League final in 2007.
After a summer of transfer speculation in the build-up to 2008-09, Alonso remained at Anfield and produced what many consider to be his best season.
The No.14 appeared 33 times during Liverpool’s push for the Premier League title, which saw them narrowly miss out to Manchester United, before departing to Real Madrid.
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