28 October 2023 , 06:00
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Liverpool's run to the 2007 Champions League final came off the back of an unexpected win away to Barcelona, but the Reds' trip to Nou Camp threw up plenty of distractions - not least the arrest of two Reds stars.
A brawl between team-mates Craig Bellamy and John Arne Riise was the main story, with the pair continuing their war of words long after the fact. Both men scored in the win in Catalunya, prompting a notorious celebration, and Rafa Benitez's side eventually prevailed on away goals after losing 1-0 in the second leg at Anfield.
In the years since, that has remained the main story from the away leg. However, as team-mate Jermaine Pennant has explained, there was high drama earlier on the tour as the team trained in the Algarve, with goalkeepers Pepe Reina and Jerzy Dudek both arrested by local police on a night which left manager Benitez forced to intervene.
“Basically, we were out at the bar and as Jerzy turned around, he bumped into a young female and her nose literally just went pop," Pennant told The Echo via Minimum Deposit Betting Sites. "Loads of blood, it was frantic but totally an accident.
“It was just as he turned around, they bumped into each other. But obviously not speaking the language, the waiter and the bar staff are panicking. You don’t know what’s going on and the police then get called.
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“It all gets settled but then the next minute, we see Jerzy get handcuffed! Pepe Reina goes over to try and calm things down. He then gets arrested as well and the next minute we’re seeing two of our goalkeepers getting driven off to a police station and we’re left thinking, ‘Oh my god!’
“Then it all gets sorted out, Rafa comes to the rescue at some stage. But that night, it was a madness.”
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Pepe Reina was part of the Liverpool line-up that beat Barcelona (PA)Pennant said Benitez addressed his squad after the incident, demanding it not happen again. And the team responded in the ideal fashion, with Bellamy equalising after Deco's opener at Camp Nou and Riise firing home the winner.
Liverpool were more comfortable in the quarter-finals, beating PSV Eindhoven 4-0 on aggregate, while Chelsea were defeated on penalties in the semis. The final was one game too far, though, with AC Milan claiming revenge for the 2005 final with a 2-1 victory in Athens.
The second incident of the tour saw Bellamy attack team-mate Riise with a golf club, though the Welshman has disputed his former colleague's telling of events. Nevertheless, Bellamy told The Central Club in 2022: "I’d love to take that back, it was stupid, beyond stupid.
Dudek and Reina were both arrested on that night in 2007 (Daily Mirror)“The best thing about it, the media were like I told people I was going to do if I scored, people put a bet on it," he added, in relation to the golf swing celebration “But one, I didn’t know I was playing until an hour before kick-off because you never did with Rafa and two, do you honestly think I’m that naïve to think I’m going to score at the Nou Camp?"