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| A happy Klopp |
Tuesday night provided one of the greatest nights of football madness. Liverpool and Barcelona were going into the game with Barcelona looking at a comfortable 3-0 advantage courtesy of the magician named Lionel Messi. Barcelona also had another advantage in that two of Liverpool's main strike force Roberto Firmino and Mo Salah due to injuries. That forced manager Jurgen Klopp to put Divock Origi and Xherdan Shaquiri into the lineup. There were returns for James Milner and Joel Matip. Barcelona put out the same team believing they can hang on to the lead.
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| Messi with a sprinkling of magic at the Camp Nou |
However, for Barcelona, there was always one thing that never plays in anyone's hands. Anfield. The fans always seem to provide something extra especially on European nights like this one. That was made clear 5 minutes before kickoff as Anfield went into full-on You'll Never Walk Alone. Some in the media were thinking of this could be the Miracle of Istanbul all over again
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| Liverpool fans hoped, or, believed |
It became clear from kickoff that Liverpool was looking at scoring with the belief of just that. They went out with a message to Barcelona saying "you scored three on us, we'll score three as well". Liverpool's belief happened very quickly as with 7 minutes on the clock they capitalised on a poor defensive header, Mane cleared captain Henderson in he fluffed his chance but Der Stegen could only parry the ball to Origi and he tapped the ball in to make it 1-0 Liverpool on the night.
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| Origi tapping in goal number one |
It nearly became two a minute later as a poor back pass nearly let Origi in and the Barcelona goalkeeper Der Stegen was well outside his goal. Then came a sticky point for Liverpool as Fabinho got a yellow card in the 10th minute after a firm tackle on Luis Suarez. Barcelona finally woke up into the game in the 15th minute as Messi took a strike at the Kop however Allison tipped it over the bar and would be the start of him proving his 75 million pound price tag. Then Philip Coutinho fired a low shot which was saved by Allison then Messi's follow up sailed two yards wide.
It was becoming clear in the stands that it was looking like Barcelona were rattled. Was this either by the Anfield crowd or Liverpool's style of play, either way, it didn't look like a comfortable team. One of the reasons was Sadio Mane he was just making it a quick tempo and Barcelona were almost having to play at the same tempo just to compete. Half an hour in it looked like there was trouble brewing with Henderson going down on the pitch clutching his knee. However, he got up and it looked more impact then on the stroke of halftime real trouble struck their best fullback Andy Roberston went down and with an injury and though he carried on until halftime he was substituted when the players returned.
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| Wijnaldum slotting in his first goal |
10 minutes into the second half, Robertson's replacement Georginio Wijnaldum slotted in Trent Alexander-Arnold's deflected cross under Der Stegen making it 2-0 on the night 3-2 to Barcelona. Then 2 minutes later Shaquiri sends in a cross from the left-hand side and who was there, Wijnaldum again giving him the "Super Sub" title. This was becoming a big night and with Liverpool now attacking at the Kop End of Anfield the feeling was this game isn't over yet and Barcelona could get one goal to change the atmosphere or it could go to extra time. All that was being thought off in the Liverpool fans were "We could do the impossible!", however, Barcelona was still fighting for that one all-important goal which would give them the advantage. However, Allison was making his price tag look like a bargain as he was keeping Barcelona out of his goal. It was starting to look like the tempo was beginning to show on the pitch
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| Wijnaldum with his second of the night |
Then in the 78th minute, the 4th and most crucial goal arrived and what a goal. Liverpool got a corner on the right-hand side, Alexander Arnold ha set the ball up for the corner looked to let Shaquiri take it however he saw that the Barcelona defenders weren't ready drove in a low cross Origi saw it in the nick of time set himself up and whipped the ball into the top left corner sending Anfield beserk as it gave them a 4-0 lead and the overall lead in the tie 4-3. There was pandemonium, there was confusion, there was disbelief, there were stunned faces. Was this an episode of Game of Thrones? No, it was Liverpool at Anfield on a European night episode 100 and it wasn't disappointing.
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| Origi with the biggest goal of the night |
Origi had run himself into the ground had to be replaced in the 85th minute but he got a standing ovation from the Liverpool faithful. Barcelona was trying one last time to get to the final knowing they could go through on away goals but Liverpool's defence was holding on and defending to the last player. During their pressure, if going against a rampant Liverpool was bad they now had to deal with a loud buoyant Liverpool crowd singing You'll Never Walk Alone again this time drowning out any noise provided by the commentary team. It was enough as the ref blew the whistle confirming Liverpool second consecutive final appearance.
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| Heartbreak for Messi |
The immediate reaction for the Liverpool players and coaching to celebrate with the fans and they did and then lined up as they were serenaded by the Liverpool fans singing You'll Never Walk Alone one more time this time everyone sang it even Mo Salah in his casual clothes sung it with pride. Trent Alexander-Arnold the games man of the match went around on a lap of honour and was given a standing ovation, even the Barcelona fans applauded him. Up next for Liverpool is Wolves on Sunday as they fight for the Premier League and they face either Ajax or Tottenham in the Champions League final.
Oh on to Sunday for more drama see you all soon.
KRO Mark
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