“You’ll never walk alone!”
It’s not a phrase, not a chant, but an emotion. Tuesday night was full of this at Anfield as Liverpool FC scripted the most unthinkable of comebacks in European football history.
The odds were stacked against Liverpool who had lost the first leg match against Barcelona 3-0 at Camp Nou and were taking the field last night without two of their best forwards - Roberto Firmino and Mohammad Salah.
But they had one X factor- 44,000 Liverpool fans chanting and making Anfield the fortress it is known to be.
In the end, the odds didn't count, the injuries didn't count, and history was made as Barcelona conceded a 3-0 cushion for a second consecutive year to allow Liverpool to to get four past their defence and march into their ninth Champions League final.
Divock Origi’s words after Tuesday’s game define what the team has stood for this season.
“I think it was more about the team. We did so well, we fought. We knew that today was going to be a special night. We wanted to fight for the injured guys (Firmino and Salah), so its just special. It’s hard to describe in words. You can feel it, you can hear it.”Divock Origi
While the team continues their celebrations, here’s a look at how Liverpool made their way into a second straight Champions League final.
Group Stage
The runner-ups from last season were drawn in what many termed as the group of death. Alongside the newly engineered Paris Saint Germain (France), FC Napoli (Italy) and FK Crvena zvezda (Serbia), the Reds had a tough task to deliver and their topsy turvy journey depicted the same.
After starting out on a high note, beating PSG 3-2 at home, Liverpool saw Lorenzo Insigne score in the 90th minute to hand them a 1-0 loss at Napoli.
However, the team then bagged a 4-0 home win against FK Crvena Zvezda as all three forwards, Salah, Mane and Firmino got their names on the scoresheet.
The reverse leg of the group games did not go as expected for Jurgen Klopp and co. An unexpected 2-0 defeat against the Serbian champions was followed by a 2-1 defeat in Paris that allowed the French champions to leapfrog them at second spot.
This left Liverpool in a tough position, needing nothing less than a win in their last group game, against Napoli. The match was at home and Salah was on target as they won 1-0 and booked a ticket to the knockout stages.
Jurgen Klopp’s squad ended the group stage second in group C with nine points in six games, scoring nine goals and conceding seven.
The Bayern Juggernaut
In the Round of 16, Liverpool were drawn against Bayern Munich, a match made by the football Gods.
Both the sides share a total of 10 UCL titles between them (five each). Both Liverpool and FC Bayern hadn’t begun the season as per the hopes that were pinned on them.
The first leg ended in a goalless draw at Anfield and rightly so as the contest was finely poised and neither of them could have scored, but it was a night to be proud of the backline.
The second leg at the Fußball Arena München began off with both the teams trying hard to open up the defences with a counter and in the end it was a long ball from Virgil van Dijk that forced an error from the seasoned Neuer who came outside his territory, leaving the goal open. Sadio Mane’s cheeky finish made it 1-0. However despite of being the better attacking side, Liverpool gave away the lead following an own goal from Joel Matip.
A towering header from van Dijk and a one vs one headed cross finish from Mane made sure that the Reds dismantled the German champions at home to make their way to the quarter-finals.
The Porto Challenge
After the quarter-final draw, Liverpool manager, Jurgen Klopp had said, “People with a proper idea about football know that Liverpool won't have an easy time against Porto. Many people have said so many things. Everyone wanted Porto, but we didn't want them. But we have them. It will be a tough one – we are really looking forward to it."
It was anything but tough for the Reds as they held back the visitors in the first leg, going with a two goal cushion and a clean sheet to the second leg, keeping Porto’s winless streak in 19 trips to England intact.
The second leg, where Klopp had urged his players to keep concentration on the pitch despite of whatever advantage they had, turned out to be even better as Mane, Salah, Firmino, Van Dijk all featured on the score sheet in a 4-1 win at Estadio do Dragao, Porto.
The Spanish Supremacy
Last season in the Champions League, Liverpool netted 40 times on their road to the final and it looked like they were all set to stand highest on the European peak, more importantly end the Spanish dominance in UCL. But Real Madrid made sure all the butterflies surrounding the final vanished quickly as they beat the Merseyside by 3-1 in the final.
Almost an entire year later, when the semi-final draw was announced, Liverpool faced a familiar task, but a different opposition.
FC Barcelona had scored 23 goals till the quarter final stages and fresh after beating Manchester United in quarter final, they proved their point at Camp Nou in the first leg.
A Lionel Messi show was too much for the Liverpool defence as they lost 3-0 in the away leg.
The week came with more problems for Jurgen Klopp’s side as Mohamad Salah joined Roberto Firmino in the lost of injured candidates as he took a blow on the shoulder during the 2-3 Premier League win againts Newcastle.
But if there’s a list of football clubs that embody ‘never give up’ spirit, the Liverpool lads are right at top of it.
The home side started the game with Divock Origi in place of Mohamad Salah and the youngster did not disappoint as he scored the opening goal inside eight minutes. After what was an intense first half, Liverpool broke the three goal deficit following two goals early on in the second half by Georginio Wijnaldum.
The Spanish Champions were on their toes now and with Lionel Messi marked up well, Liverpool made sure they hit the final nail hard with a quickly taken corner converted by Divock Origi into Anfield’s montage moment of the season. For a second consecutive year, Barcelona had given away a three goal cushion and the winner came from a corner, something they aren’t comfortable with either scoring or defending.
Liverpool made their way to a Champions League final on 2 June in Madrid. A name that has brought their fans horrors of last season, may just bring the trophy that marks this season as a story to remember.
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