1807: New boys glad to play
1707: Rafa pleased with debutants
1707: Voronin outshines Torres and Babel

JULY 18
New boys glad to play

By Al Campbell - LFC Online

Yossi Benayoun and Ryan Babel were both glad to make their Liverpool debuts last night.

Both Yossi Benayoun and Ryan Babel, along with Fernando Torres, made their Liverpool debuts in last night's 3-2 win over Werder Bremen and were pleased to pull on the famous Red shirt for the first time.

"I was of course very happy to make my debut. It's a dream come true to play for Liverpool," said Benayoun.

"I felt a little bit tired at the beginning but that is expected at this stage. I have only been training for four or five days, so I felt a little bit heavy out there. I just tried to do my best and I know I will improve with games.

"Everyone is helping me settle in and I already feel at home here."

"It was nice to have a Liverpool shirt on and nice to get some minutes. I am proud," added Babel.

"I am settling in well and everyone is helping with that, especially Dirk because we know each other from the national team. I am very happy."

JULY 17
Rafa pleased with debutants

By Steve Hunter in Grenchen - LFC Official Website

Rafael Benitez admitted he was pleased with the performance of his team as the Reds beat Werder Bremen 3-2 in Grenchen, and praised the sharpness of debutants Fernando Torres, Yossi Benayoun and
Ryan Babel.

All three of Rafa's latest signings made their debuts in the second half after two goals from Andriy Voronin and a stunning free-kick from John Arne Riise gave Liverpool a deserved win over the Bundesliga outfit.

"I was pleased to see us score three goals and it was nice for Torres, Benayoun and Babel to play their first games for us," enthused Benitez.

"They have only just started training with us but they looked sharp. You can see the different options we have now in attack and it's good for the team.

"It was good for the supporters to see us attacking and playing some good football. It was not so good for me as manager to see us conceding goals but there were many positives for me to take from the game.

"We needed to work hard and step up our fitness levels and that's why we changed a lot of players during the game."

JULY 17
Voronin outshines Torres and Babel

TEAMtalk

Fernando Torres and Ryan Babel made their Liverpool bows but were upstaged by Andriy Voronin, who bagged twice in a 3-2 win over Werder Bremen.

Summer signing Voronin and John Arne Riise helped the Reds to a 2-1 half-time lead before Voronin extended the advantage in the second half.

Torres, Babel and Yossi Benayoun were all introduced as second-half substitutes in Switzerland.

Liverpool enjoyed the perfect start as Voronin produced a cool finish after intercepting a poor pass and rounding the goalkeeper.

Kevin Schindler equalised for the Bundesliga side barely two minutes later.

However, Riise produced a trademark thunderbolt to restore the lead with a free-kick from distance which goalkeeper Tim Wiese should arguably have handled better.

Fifteen minutes into the second half Ukrainian Voronin, a free transfer from Bayer Leverkusen, put the game beyond Werder with a cunning finish after a brilliant Xabi Alonso pass.

Torres then replaced Voronin and saw chances of his own come and go before Hugo Almeida's late consolation for the Germans.