Football
Reuters 17y

Soccer-Free signing puts big-spending Liverpool in command

By Julien Pretot

TOULOUSE, France, Aug 16 - Liverpool's positive
start to the season is good news for coach Rafael Benitez after
a busy offseason of big spending, but it was free signing
Andriy Voronin who paved the way for European progress on
Wednesday.

The five-times European champions have one foot in the
group stage of the Champions League after the Ukraine striker's
sublime first-half strike was enough to give his side a 1-0
victory at Toulouse in their third qualifying round first leg
encounter.

Voronin, who joined Liverpool from Bayer Leverkusen as a
free agent during the close season, is one of the four major
new recruits at the club along with Spain striker Fernando
Torres, Dutch forward Ryan Babel and Israel's playmaker Yossi
Benayoun.

Liverpool have spent around 40 million pounds ($79.3
million) on players since the end of last season after being
taken over in March by U.S. sports tycoons George Gillett and
Tom Hicks.

The pair are making plans for a new stadium in the city's
Stanley Park and have provided Benitez with transfer funds to
help the 18-times English champions bring an end to a 17-year
domestic title drought.

Liverpool opened their league campaign with a 2-1 victory
at Aston Villa last weekend.

In Toulouse, Voronin played alongside strike partner Peter
Crouch and he was on target two minutes from halftime with an
impressive 25-metre drive.

"It was a fantastic goal and Andriy showed the quality he
has," Benitez told a news conference on Wednesday.

The Liverpool manager believes Voronin's arrival gives him
more tactical possibilities.

"He is different from the strikers we have as he has game
intelligence, he links up the play well and he can score
goals," he said.

With Torres and Dutch striker Dirk Kuyt starting on the
bench, the Merseysiders were not short of options.

"All strikers are different. Now I can change and look for
different things," said Benitez, who may be tempted to field
Torres and Kuyt against Chelsea in the Premier League at
Anfield on Sunday.

Torres played just 15 minutes in Toulouse while Kuyt was
rested completely. The two other players making European debuts
for Liverpool, Benayoun and Babel, both acquitted themselves
well in the searing afternoon heat.

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