Liverpool tear poor Finns apart

Barring a second-leg aberration as unlikely as England's cricketers ever regaining the Ashes, Liverpool are guaranteed a place in the first group stage of the Champions League and with it an £11m honeypot. In truth, this third round, first-leg mismatch was almost embarrassing to behold.

Liverpool often tour Scandinavia in pre-season, running up cricket scores against similar opposition; against Haka, they did the same. Michael Owen's hat-trick, completed with a low shot from the edge of the area just seconds after Sami Hyypia had prodded home the visitors' fourth, duly buried the Finns under an avalanche of away goals.

Tickets for this match sold out within three hours despite Haka switching the tie from their tiny Tehtaan Kentta ground to the Olympic stadium. Valkeakoski only boasts a population of around 21,000, a large contingent of whom had made the two-hour journey to Helsinki, although Liverpool's massive following in Finland, courtesy of their local internationals Sami Hyypia and Jari Litmanen, ensured this did not feel like an away match.

With Haka's defence spread thinly and dangerously high up the field, even innocuous punts from Liverpool's defence had the Finns dithering. Owen burst on to Heskey's knock-down but scuffed a shot wide. Steven Gerrard's neat reverse pass then had him firing into the goalkeeper Andras Vilnrotter's hands.

Those chances set the trend and played on Finnish minds.

Gerrard, back to fitness and oozing class, was soon winning the ball tenaciously in his own half and feeding the onrushing Litmanen. He slipped Owen into the area and, with defenders trailing in his wake, the striker slotted home a second. The provider was immediately substituted, his job well done.

Haka will make over £1m from this two-legged tie, enough to cover half their annual running costs, and that will provide significant compensation for this painful experience. David Wilson, who played eight games under Alex Ferguson in the late 1980s, cut a forlorn figure as Liverpool broke with increasing ease.

The Englishman was helpless as Berger became the latest visiting player to ease a pass over the statuesque rearguard and Owen burst through Vilnrotter's challenge to tap a third calmly into the empty net. Danny Murphy on for Gerrard, then had a shot scrambled off the line.

HAKA VALKEAKOSKI (4-4-1-1): Vilnrotter; Kangaskorpi, Okkonen, Makela, Aalto; Vaisanen, Wilson, Karjalainen (Ivanov, 84), Torkkeli (Pasanen, 73); Popovitch (Ruhanen, 72); Kovacs.

LIVERPOOL (4-3-1-2): Arphexad; Babbel, Hyypia, Henchoz, Carragher; Gerrard (Murphy, 66), Hamann, Berger; Litmanen (McAllister, 59); Owen, Heskey (Fowler, 73).

Referee: A Dauden-Ibanez (Spain)