With Robbie Keane making his debut, Liverpool’s best chance of the half fell to fellow new-boy David Ngog following Yossi Benayoun’s clever run and pass but the Frenchman’s snapshot was weak and easily gathered. The Yellow Submarine went close to breaking the deadlock as Ariel Ibagaza struck the post, before Liverpool’s Stephen Darby got in a fine block to deflect the ball over on the rebound.

After Miroslav Klose put Bayern Munich ahead against the Urawa Red Diamonds, Lukas Podolski extended the lead with a fine finish after a swift counter-attack. Podolski added the third just before the break, but Urawa managed to pull a goal back through Umesaki on the restart. Podolski then completed his hat-trick in the 63rd minute, Abe scoring a late consolation for the hosts.