Magical milestones for Giggs and Liverpool in Europe
UK soccer
In February, two centuries were reached in European football.
Welsh winger Ryan Giggs, of Manchester United, chalked up his 100th appearance in the Champions League while Liverpool, the club that has won most honours in British football, claimed a century of wins at home, also in all competitions.
Both milestones were set in the same week. Giggs reached the century mark in United's 1-1 away draw against Lyon in the first leg of the second round knockout of the Champions League.
Liverpool's 100th victory at Anfield came after an impressive performance in the same competition which saw them beat Italian champions Inter 2-0.
Giggs was born in Cardiff on November 20, 1973. He made his debut for Manchester United in the First Division of the Football League in the match against Everton at Old Trafford, coming on as a substitute on March 2, 1991.
Two months before Giggs secured a place in the record books of European football, he had also become the 11th player to amass a total of 100 or more goals in the Premier League in the 4-1 thumping of Derby County (first goal) at Old Trafford.
Alex Ferguson saluted the Welshman's professionalism, praising his ability and his approach to the game.
"He has been an absolute model during his time with us," Sir Alex said.
"It will be a great occasion for Ryan and we are all proud of him to chalk up his century appearance in the continent."
Giggs has won a remarkable 15 major trophies with United, including the Champions League in 1999, the year the Red Devils clinched the treble.
Ferguson added that he will continue to play Giggs in matches that really mattered to the club and top on his agenda is the Champions League, the biggest challenge in football.
On the night Giggs made it a 100 in Lyon, he also became the eighth player to reach this landmark, as data below shows:
116 - Raul (Real Madrid), debut 1995.
114 - Roberto Carlos (Real Madrid, Fenerbahce), 1997.
108 - Paolo Maldini (Milan), 1985.
103 - David Beckham (Manchester United, Real Madrid), 1994; Oliver Kahn (Bayern Munich), 1994.
101 - Clarence Seedorf (Ajax, Real Madrid, Milan), 1994
100 - Luis Figo (Barcelona, Real Madrid, Inter), 1997; Giggs.
Two other Manchester United stalwarts are close to emulating Giggs as Gary Neville and Paul Scholes are both on 98 appearances in European competitions.
If one were to take into account appearances in the European Cup/Champions League only - including qualifying games - Maldini leads the way on 163, followed by Raul (118), Roberto Carlos (115), Beckham (100).
Liverpool's lot
Liverpool are the most decorated British club on the continent with eight top honours to their credit:
European Cup
1976-77 (beat Borussia Moenchengladbach 3-1 in Rome).
1977-78 (beat Club Brugge 1-0 at Wembley).
1980-81 (beat Real Madrid 1-0 in Paris).
1983-84 (beat Roma 4-2 in a penalty shoot-out, 1-1, in Rome).
2004-05 (beat Milan 3-2 in a penalty shoot-out, 3-3, in Istanbul).
Uefa Cup
1972-73 (beat Borussia Moenchengladbach 3-2 on aggregate: home 3-0, away 0-2).
1975-76 (beat Club Brugge 4-3 on aggregate: home 3-2, away 1-1).
2000-01 (beat Alaves 5-4 on golden goal in Dortmund).
First win
In claiming a total of 100 European victories at Anfield, Liverpool started with the win over KR Reykjavik (Iceland) 6-1 (Byrne, St John 2, Graham, Hunt, Stevenson) on September 14, 1964; European Cup preliminary round.
Landmarks in Liverpool's route to 100 wins:
10th: Munich 1860 (West Germany) 8-0 (St John, Hateley, Thompson P., Smith pen, Hunt 2, Callaghan 2) on November 7, 1967; Fairs Cup second round.
20th: AEK Athens (Greece) 3-0 (Boersma, Cormack, Smith pen) on October 24, 1972; UEFA Cup second round.
30th: Dynamo Dresden (East Germany) 2-1, (Case, Keegan) on March 17, 1976; UEFA Cup quarter-final.
40th: Anderlecht (Belgium) 2-1 (Hughes, Fairclough) on December 4, 1978; Super Cup.
50th: Widzew Lodz (Poland) 3-2 (Neal pen, Rush, Hodgson) on September 28, 1983; European Cup.
60th: Swarowski Tirol (Austria) 4-0 (Saunders 3, Venison) on December 11, 1991; UEFA Cup third round.
70th: FC Porto (Portugal) 2-0 (Murphy, Owen) on March 15, 2001; Uefa Cup fifth round.
80th: Olimpija (Latvia) 3-0 (Le Tallec, Heskey, Kewell) on October 15, 2003; UEFA Cup second round.
90th: Anderlecht (Belgium) 3-0 (Morientes, Garcia, Cisse) on November 1, 2005; Champions League group phase.
100th: Inter (Italy) 2-0 (Kuyt, Gerrard) on February 19, 2008; Champions League second round.
Gerrard's 50
Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard, scorer of so many important goals at Anfield, admitted that the win over Inter was one of Liverpool's finest at home.
Gerrard attained another memorable European feat as the goal he netted in the 2-0 win over the Italian champions was the 50th of a brilliant career at Anfield.
He became the first Liverpool player to score in five successive European games in one season.