Jamie Carragher last night rose to joint fourth in the ranking of European games played for the reds, with his appearance in our narrow home defeat of Maccabi Haifa. This was his 79th game in continental competition for Liverpool and he has already helped us to claim four European trophies.

His next appearance in Europe will see another milestone as he becomes only the third ever red to play half a century of games in Europe’s top club competition ? with the second to reach this honour being Sami Hyypiä yesterday evening.

Jamie’s 79 European games to date include 49 in the Champions League, 28 in the UEFA Cup, and two UEFA Super Cup fixtures, the most recent of which led to him lifting his first trophy as stand-in Liverpool captain. His first European appearance came back in September 1997 when he played in our goalless draw with Celtic at Anfield that took us through to the UEFA Cup Second Round, having remained on the bench during the first leg at Parkhead.

Carra drew level with reds legend Emlyn Hughes on Wednesday. Crazy Horse lifted the European Cup twice for Liverpool, with two UEFA Cups and the UEFA Super Cup also amongst his roll of honours. His 79 continental games consisted of 22 in the European Cup, 23 in the UEFA Cup, 22 in the old Fairs Cup, eight in the European Cup Winners’ Cup and four UEFA Super Cup matches.

A good run in Europe this season will see Carra become the club’s all-time record European appearance holder, as a trip to Athens in May could see him reach 93 games. Sami Hyypiä is also fast moving up the list, and is just two European matches behind his central defensive partner, with Steven Gerrard also in the club’s top ten, and John Arne Riise next in the ranking, currently eight games outside the top ten.

Top 10 European Appearances:
1. Ian Callaghan (89)
2. Tommy Smith (85)
3. Ray Clemence (80)
4= Jamie Carragher (79)
4= Emlyn Hughes (79)
6. Sami Hyypiä (77)
7. Phil Neal (74)
8= Steve Heighway (67)
8= Steven Gerrard (67)
10. Chris Lawler (66)