It’s a journey that started in September last year, and all of the hype and expectation comes to an end on Saturday when Liverpool tackle Tottenham in the final of the Champions League. The time for talking is over. Now is the time for action.
Well, try and put that into words! The atmosphere at Anfield on Tuesday night was electric half an hour or more before kick off against Barcelona, and there was a feeling in the air – rarely uttered, but perceptible – that maybe, just maybe, Liverpool FC could pull off yet another footballing miracle.
It was telling, perhaps, that after Liverpool’s pulsating 3-2 win over Newcastle United on Saturday that Jurgen Klopp said we had ‘qualified for our final’.
It was easy to get carried away in the emotion of Divock Origi’s 86th minute winner following a titanic collision with the Magpies, and the manager confirmed it was something of a slip of the tongue by referencing Tuesday’s Champions League semi-final second leg later in his interview.
It’s not been the best of weeks for Liverpool Football Club. We were sitting pretty after blasting Huddersfield Town 5-0 last Friday, and we watched on with glee as Manchester City faced a tough trip to Burnley on Sunday.
With a two-nil lead from the first leg, it was always unlikely that Liverpool would face an upset in the second outing of their Champions League quarter final tie with FC Porto.
Admittedly, the Portuguese outfit did stick it on us early on during Wednesday’s game, but we rode out the storm and took what would surely be an unassailable lead when Sadio Mane slid home following Mo Salah’s dragged shot at goal.
Once again we made life difficult for ourselves, but once again the Liverpool players showed the character and resolve to dig themselves out of a hole at Southampton.
It was another last gasp victory for Liverpool on Sunday, but who cares? The three points at this stage of the campaign is all that matters. Hugo Lloris’ weak parry, which ricocheted into the Spurs net off the shins of Toby Alderweireld, secured a 2-1 victory for the Reds in a game which had gone one way and then the other. In truth, we did fully deserve the victory no matter how scrappily it came.
The international break is welcomed on one hand by Premier League managers trying to juggle their various responsibilities, and loathed by others who fear for the health of their jet-setting stars. Liverpool rely on key figures from pretty much every continent on earth, and so Jurgen Klopp can be forgiven for saying a little prayer for the safe return of his squad after the internationals.
We had queried in our preview of the game whether our proficiency on the counter attack might be the difference between the two sides when Liverpool and Bayern Munich locked horns in their Champions League last 16 second leg encounter, and we’re happy to say we were proven right!
Come rain or shine, Liverpool are hanging on in there in the race for the Premier League title. Buffeted by strong winds and peppered by hailstones, the conditions arguably played into the hands of Burnley’s robust starting eleven on Sunday, and when the Clarets took the lead at Anfield with a dubious goal – surely James Tarkowski fouled Alisson from the corner? – there was a pensive feeling on the terraces.