2002/03 FC Basel 1893 3-3 Liverpool FC: Report

FC Basel 1893 coach Christian Gross described this as "the game of games" in the pre-match press conference – it did not fail to deliver.

For Swiss double winners Basel the hard work was so nearly done even before the visit of Liverpool FC but the point the UEFA Champions League debutants needed to guarantee progress was no foregone conclusion against a side with such pedigree – even after they went 3-0 up.

Gérard Houllier's side, needing a win to reach the second group stage, always faced an uphill struggle but it soon became a mountainous task. Indeed, the gradient had become steeper after barely 90 seconds when Hakan Yakin sprung a creaky offside trap and squared for Julio Hernán Rossi to tap in. Emile Heskey struck the bar – via Pascal Zuberbühler's fingertips – soon after, but the momentum was evidently with Basel.

It was little surprise when, with Yakin at the heart of another crisp move, Christian Giménez raced clear midway through the first half and slotted past Jerzy Dudek. Two became three and mission improbable, surely, mission impossible, seven minutes later, Dudek parrying a free-kick straight to Thimothée Atouba, who stabbed in.

Liverpool's backs had gone from being against the wall to all but nailed to it. With an hour gone Basel were still three to the good, still looking menacing and all but in the next round. Danny Murphy's neatly side-footed finish from the edge of the penalty area may have removed any complacency, it seemed destined to be too little too late.

The number of nails being bitten at St Jakob-Park rocketed just three minutes later, though, when Milan Baroš' outrageous flick, through luck or design, laid on Vladimir Šmicer for a second. Basel were desperately plugging their leaking dam but, despite suffering a nervy final five minutes following Michael Owen's penalty, had done enough.

Club stalwart Roy Evans once claimed that "Liverpool without European football is like a banquet without wine". They still had the consolation of UEFA Cup football, yet there was little doubt Basel had deservedly upset the natural order – albeit not without a fright.