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Marco Streller believes that shutting down Steven Gerrard and Dejan Lovren was the key to Basel's 1-0 Champions League victory against Liverpool. Basel have long become the bogey team for Premier League clubs after beating Chelsea and Manchester in recent years, and they made Brendan Rodgers' side the next to suffer defeat at the St. Jakob-Park on Wednesday. Twelve years ago, Liverpool were able to come back from being 3-0 down in the group stages of Champions League, but this time around they were not able to pull one back after Marco Streller gave Basel an early second half-lead. The 33-year-old had followed the 2002 thriller on the stands at the St. Jakob-Park, when he saw young Steven Gerrard getting substituted at half-time. Streller believes closing down the space available to the 34-year-old Anfield captain was key, telling 20 Minutes: "We were well prepared. We made sure to pressure Steven Gerrard and Dejan Lovren, because both of them can play outstanding balls from the back. "We also believed in us. We knew that we can beat such teams. Moreover we have openly communicated that we want the second place in that group. I am proud that we were able to come out on top against a big team once again." Basel play their next two games against outsiders Ludogorets Razgrad, and Streller hopes that they will be able to collect crucial points to ensure a "final" against Liverpool on the last match day in December. "We are favourites in our next two games; that doesn't make it any easier. We beat Chelsea twice last year, but did not do our homework against [Steaua] Bucharest," he added, reflecting on last year's group stages which saw them finish third behind Schalke. "We need to take care of that now, and collect at least four points. I hope, and that is our goal, that we will have a final at Anfield in the end."
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