After it all, they stood and stared at the bouncing away end, whose voices amplified in an emptying Etihad, whose scarves and spirits were raised. This was a moment they deserved, that they could savour after the success of combining swagger and survival, sweat and surety.
In unison, Liverpool’s players and backroom team walked towards their supporters at the Etihad – applauding them en route – and when they reached their people, it was time to pause, to breathe, to drink in the scenes. Dejan Lovren swung both his arms out a few times and held them aloft. Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain clapped as the fans did, in rhythm to Allez, Allez, Allez.
Virgil van Dijk fist-pumped as Jurgen Klopp waved to the ceaseless chanters, before placing his right hand over his heart as a symbol of his appreciation.
This was Liverpool enjoying a 5-1 aggregate against Manchester City, enjoying victories home and away against a team that many predicted prior to the the two-legged contest would bulldoze their way to the final of Europe’s premier competition: a phenomenal outfit, overseen by the phenomenal Pep Guardiola, doing phenomenal things this season.
But it wasn’t about them: not last week at Anfield, nor now on their own turf.
This was about Liverpool, reaching their first Champions League semis since 2008, actioning the words their manager delivered during his first day in the job. “We have the possibility to write a new story if we want,” he stated, and over two legs against a side the German considers the best in England and on the continent at the moment, his men authored a historic chapter. This was Liverpool as the joyful and triumphant in the travelling section know them: European Royalty.
The tie seemed to be distilled into a series of question marks against the Merseysiders. Could they exact enough of an advantage in the first leg? Could they feed off the atmosphere to embrace emotional football or would the expectations at Anfield floor them?
When Mohamed Salah, Oxlade-Chamberlain and Sadio Mane made it 3-0 by 31 minutes on L4, the query shifted to whether they could possibly keep the nil element of the scoreline. When City powered up and poured forward in the second stanza, could the hosts really manage their instincts and the game?
Liverpool answered all of those affirmatively, with the Premier League’s champions-in-waiting not even mustering a shot on target last Wednesday.
Then came a new sequence of probing: Would they be calm admit City’s ‘thunderstorm’ at the Etihad? Would they completely disintegrate if Guardiola’s men netted early? Would they really be able to restrict England’s highest scorers – committed to an relentless attacking approach that extended to the ball boys – in their backyard?
It was never going to be easy on Tuesday night, with City having little to lose, everything to play for, and a forward cast fused with finesse and fireworks backed by a breathtaking midfield. And when Gabriel Jesus breached the rearguard within two minutes to slot beyond Loris Karius, the difficulty of the second leg was bolded and in uppercase.
Liverpool were dizzied by what Klopp termed a “whirlwind” of movement, aggression and intention in the first half from City. The Reds struggled to steal possession, and when they did, every break was forced rather than executed with typical intelligence and efficiency. City had the freedom of the midfield, blurring the lines with their runs and playing at an exhausting Usain Bolt pace as they displayed a belief supported by their brilliance to do the remarkable and cross the finishing line.
Bernando Silva’s effort cannoned off the post and Leroy Sane had a goal wrongly disallowed, but in all the chaos – referee Antonio Miguel Mateu Lahoz was a chief protagonist – Liverpool were nowhere near being on the canvas, safe in the knowledge that if they perfected just one foray forward, they’d wrestle the night back as the tie was still cuddled in their palms.
The moment the visitors ended the opening 45 with signalled just that – a more measured, instructive method in possession. Roberto Firmino and Salah combined to supply Oxlade-Chamberlain, who rounded Ederson, but clipped over from a tight angle.
The passing was crisper, and for the first time in the second leg, City had felt danger. “With that move, it was easy for me and the boys to see the development of the game – we were already through the whirlwind,” Klopp explained.
“On the one hand side 1-0 was the worst start we could get, on the other hand the first question was already answered: yes, they can score goals and that will be difficult.
“At half-time we said that if we score a goal it would change the atmosphere slightly. That was clear from the beginning, it was the best thing with being 3-0 up, it was all clear. You saw the line-up of Man City – they took all the risk and it could have worked. 100 per cent it could have worked. But it was clear as well that if they cannot score enough then there is always a chance for us.
“I would have been nervous if we were 3-0 down at half-time but even then I would have known we’d have the chance to score one or two. I knew we’d have to change a little bit from the first half. We had to be more compact, win more second balls – to be more compact and then because of that winning more second balls – and then playing more and better football in the moments where we got the ball. That was much better in the second half and we were then really difficult, with a constant threat in your mind for City that you know each ball you lose is really difficult to defend again.”
And so, it was. On 56 minutes, Salah executed a glorious chip, coated in confidence and composure, to cut through the freneticism of the fixture following sublime work from Oxlade-Chamberlain and Mane, which shredded everything City had shown until that point.
When Firmino illustrated a snapshot of his talents by pressing Nicolas Otamendi, thieving possession from the defender, before expertly placing his finish while Salah occupied three markers on 77, Liverpool’s supporters were already long delirious and their opponents long counted out.
The quarter-final was a solid example of the maturity of Klopp’s side in this competition and as a whole. They conspired to drop points home and away to Sevilla and at Spartak Moscow in the group stages, despite being so heavily better.
They are, and have been for months most especially after the £75 million arrival of van Dijk in January, a diligent defensive unit keeping six clean sheets in their last eight continental games.
They can be clinical – five goals from eight shots on target against City as evidence – while also restricting the amount of work Karius has to do (Guardiola’s side had a total of three shots on target over both legs).
Liverpool are able to meld their full-tilt appetite with focus and – quite importantly – have been able to progress despite the mid-season sale of Philippe Coutinho and despite having to hurdle a host of injury setbacks.
“We’ve matured constantly, that’s true,” Klopp said. “The boys get more and more used to situations like this. If you could say anything bad about us in the past, the last few months, then it’s that on a good day we beat everybody and on an average day we lose with cheap goals. Obviously we have worked on that; it’s all about confidence, being convinced about what you are doing and stuff like that.
“We did it, but on the other side it is always like this. Yes, if the ball is here or there around the box, in the box, you need to defend it, but it should not happen that often. That only works if you have the ball and then you have to do something with it. We are still in a development phase, that’s how it is, but already a good team.”
Liverpool are the semi-finals of the European Cup for a 10th time. That they achieved this feat despite Emre Can, Adam Lallana, Joel Matip and Joe Gomez being on the injured list against City with captain Jordan Henderson suspended at the Etihad, Gini Wijnaldum filling in as the No 6 and Nathaniel Clyne only featuring for 10 minutes in the competition should be given all the credit it is due.
That they are in “a pretty cool moment” – to borrow Klopp parlance – with 19-year-old Trent Alexander-Arnold at right-back with £8m Andy Robertson, who was practically a trade-off with Kevin Stewart going to Hull City for a similar amount, on the opposite flank should be saluted.
James Milner, 32, on the fringes of the matchday squad let alone the midfield at the start of the season, should be held up as a benchmark of persistence, professionalism and endurance. Oxlade-Chamberlain was laughed out of Arsenal, but continues delivering punches to the gut of opponents and his own punchlines.
Look through Liverpool’s roster and you’ll know the list of those dismantling narratives goes on…
“So far, we fought for each opportunity to get it – and then to use it is so hard,” Klopp said. “But that’s what we will do.”
His Liverpool have shown no proof of the contrary as they continue to ink their own story.
