The innocence of youth
The red half of Liverpool was overwhelmed with emotion after Jurgen Klopp’s side overturned a three goal deficit to beat Barcelona 4-0 in the Champions League, reaching a second successive Champions League final.
Nobody foresaw this result, despite the murmurs of Istanbul and the power of Anfield. It was all ‘what if’, not ‘when’. But anything can happen in football, especially when Klopp and Liverpool are involved. After Divock Origi’s late winner from a beautifully cheeky quick corner from Trent Alexander-Arnold, emotions were through the roof at Anfield. The 54,000 plus fans in attendance belted out a spine-tingling rendition of You’ll Never Walk Alone in unison with the players, arm in arm. James Milner cried. It was all a bit much.
In moments like this, emotion takes over. Fans act in a way they wouldn’t in any other situation. Especially young fans, for whom this is an entirely new experience.
New footage that wasn’t shown on British TV has circulated on Twitter, showing one young fan dressed head to toe in Liverpool merchandise running onto the Anfield pitch at full-time, running past Barcelona talisman Lionel Messi, and flipping a V at him.
https://twitter.com/usmana__/status/1126168806739591168?s=21
Have that, Lionel.
Messi is reported to have broken down into tears in the dressing room after the match, though his despair was probably more to do with the fact that Barça had been victim of yet another spectacular turnaround in the Champions League, as the Argentine chases his fifth European title.
