So, here we are again, preparing for yet another European semi-final tie at one of the cathedrals of European football. There are some who look down on this particular competition and obviously it doesn't quite carry the prestige of its bigger brother, you know the one with the big ears that sits proudly and ominously in our trophy room? However, for some of us and most notably the, erm slightly older fans this tournament brings back many happy memories and holds a special place in our hearts. Lest we forget, this rather lovely piece of silverware was the first European one to grace that same trophy room and, in my humble opinion, is better looking than its senior sibling. In fact it doesn't have any ears at all!
Liverpool's first Uefa Cup semi final came against domestic opposition, 2016 title chasers Tottenham Hotspur back in 1973. We won the first leg thanks to an Alec Lindsay goal and progressed to the Final on the away goals ruling after a 2-1 defeat in North London, Stevie Heighway with the all important away goal for the Reds. This was the fourth European semi-final of Shankly's pursuit of domestic and European dominance and the second time he would lead his side through to a European Final against a crack German outfit (they had previously lost in the European Cup Winners Cup Final to some team called Borrussia Dortmund seven years previously). And this time they would win, beating Borrussia Monchengladbach in the final over two legs to bring Liverpool their first trophy from the continent and also sparking a great rivalry with the legendary 1970s side from the Rhineland. It would be the first of many titles won in Europe and one of great significance to Liverpool as it announced their arrival on the European stage as a genuine threat. By the end of the decade Liverpool had become the most feared side in Europe guided by Shanklys former lieutenant, the great Sir Bob Paisley, adding another UEFA Cup win and a couple of European Cups to boot. Anyone who doesn't care for this competition and thinks it is all about the European Cup/Champions League must remember; this was the trophy that started our ascent to the throne of European Royalty . I hope that every fan anywhere near Anfield or a tv screen come Thursday night remembers how it all started, as we look to continue our love affair with the European Cups' little brother. Shankly was never prouder than the night we first lifted this precious piece of metal. And, just look at the sheer beauty of it. ......
Our second UEFA Cup win came just three years later in 1976 and was Bob Paisleys first capture of a European trophy. This time Spanish giants Barcelona stood in Liverpool's way at the penultimate hurdle but totemic Welsh striker John Toshack silenced the partisan Nou Camp crowd to give Liverpool a one goal lead going into the second leg at Anfield and thus claimed a historic first win for an English side in that famous old stadium.
<![CDATA[<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/dZTesxZ4r8A?fs=1" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" class="bbc_link bbc_flash_disabled new_win">http://www.youtube.com/v/dZTesxZ4r8A?fs=1</a>]]>A 1-1 draw in the return leg at Anfield a couple of weeks later would see Liverpool progress to their 2nd Uefa Cup final, this time Phil Thompson with the goal for his boyhood club. Over 55,000 packed into Anfield to will their team on against a venomous Barcelona side which included the late, great Johan Cruyff and his Dutch team mate Johan Neeskens. The man credited with discovering Lionel Messi and future Barca manager, Carles Rexach, would equalise just moments after Thommo's goal, but Liverpool would hang on and see the tie through.
That would be the last time we would reach this stage of the Uefa Cup until 2001 (were we would again face Barcelona) largely down to the fact that we began a racy love affair with its big brother in late 1976. We wouldn't even enter the Uefa Cup again until the 1991/1992 season but that, along with the rest of the 90's, was a largely forgettable time for us in European Competition.
This Uefa Cup run in the new millenium would start against Rapid Bucharest in the Autumn of 2000 and the 2nd leg (a very forgettable 0-0 draw as we clung on to a slender 1-0 first leg lead) was the first time my old man took me on a pilgrimage to a special place he called Anfield, a place where he promised me that magical things happened, especially on a European night. He knew this because he said he'd witnessed this phenomenon himself many times. He was right, parents always are aren't they? Ok maybe not on that particular night but there was an aura about the place that you could feel in the air, a feeling of togetherness, a tingling sense of anticipation, a feeling that we belonged here doing this sort of thing, a very special feeling. And I was hooked.
Anyway, on to the semi-final that same season and Barcelona at Camp Nou once more were our foe. A Liverpool side led by their Captain, Sami Hyypia, managed to thwart the Barcelona attack that contained the likes of Rivaldo, Kluivert and Marc Overmars, and return to Liverpool with a clean sheet and a huge amount of hope of progressing through to the Final.
The entry fee had climbed a long way up the ladder since Barcelona last visted Anfield at this stage of this very competition 25 years earlier and the crowd was no doubt smaller but the Kop still created an Anfield atmosphere that made it worth every penny.
<![CDATA[<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/0Xkj5Yg_Ekc?fs=1" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" class="bbc_link bbc_flash_disabled new_win">http://www.youtube.com/v/0Xkj5Yg_Ekc?fs=1</a>]]>After a handball by Dutch superstar Patrick Kluivert some old guy with no hair from that place in the far north of Britain where we used to get lots of great footballers in the 60's, 70's and 80's tucked away a fantastic penalty past a young goalkeeper going by the name of Jose 'Pepe' Reina. This rookie keeper would return for more nights like this in time. More records tumbled and were created that season, the first side to play in absolutely every single game that they possibly could in one season, we reached the final of all the three cup competitions entered that season, and won them all, and still managed to qualify for the revamped european Cup aka The Champions League for the first time. A season that stands the test of time in the annals of Anfields illustrious history, merci beaucoup Monsieur Houllier.
Once again, this campaign and this trophy would kickstart a decade of unbelievable European nights at Anfield. And as it did in the 70's, it would again come just four seasons before we won Ol' Big Ears. You see, this competition has often been the springboard for assaults on the big one, Rome wasn't built in a day y'know.
Why history so oft repeats itself I do not know but this would again be the last time we reached this stage of the competition for nearly a decade, and once again mainly because we looked to reignite our love affair with the Uefa Cup's big ugly brother. Love is blind so they say.
And after many years of winning and flirting with the European Cup like a lovestruck teenager, 2010 would again see us pursuing the Uefa Cup, in it's new guise as the Europa League. It wasn't a straight knockout competition anymore, at least not at the beginning, but we did enter it at the knockout stage due to a rather dissapointing and lacklustre Champions League campaign. It was still serious business to Rafa and his European hungry Reds and we nonchalantly progressed to the latter stages of the competition and into the last four and once again we faced Iberian opponents, this time in the shape of Atletico Madrid.
A 1-0 defeat at the Vicente Calderon with former Manchester United flop turned La Liga goal machine Diego Forlan getting the vital winner meant Liverpool would start the 2nd leg with a harder task than they would have liked, no away goal can sometimes be pivotal in European combat. The talismanic Fernano Torres was injured and unavailable for the return to his former home and, tellingly, would also miss the return leg.
The return leg was now pure knockout football, another special Anfield European night under the floodlights beckoned and just before half time, our first maligned enigmatic Italian, Alberto Aquilani, tucked away a lovely finish from the edge of the box at the Kop end to level the aggregate scores. The game would stay like this until extra time when Yossi Benayoun would execute another lovely finish and inspire us to dream of another European Final appearance. The Uruguayan striker that we didn't like would pop up again however and silence the Kop with a strike which would send Atletico Madrid through to the Final where they eventually defeated Roy Hodgsons European shock troops of the season, quaint little Fulham.
I apologise if by now some of you were expecting a write up pondering whether or not Firmino will play as a 'false nine', whether or not Sturridge would play and who would come in at centre back due to a very recent notable absentee. But this is no ordinary match. This is a European semi-final. This is much more serious than discussing the team sheet. This is history waiting to be written. This is Anfield. The sheer nostalgia came over me in a wave of spine-tingling and goosebumps as I researched our magnificent European history with a lot of help from Liverweb and lfchistory.net (great sites btw) and after consultations with my old man who has witnessed so many of these nights and grew up with tales of the same ilk from my late Liverpool-born Grandad. My wish is for every fan to realise just how important this trophy is to our club, not just because its still regarded as a major trophy or because it now offers a route into the Champions League but because our history shows us that this competition can be the continuation of our great European history and a kickstart to bigger and better things although I believe that nothing can be better than winning in Europe, it defines our club and its very soul, its raison d'etre. And with Herr Klopp at the helm, that certainly makes history looking very likely to repeat itself in the near future, how ironic that it could be a German who takes us back to the summit of Europe.
On to Villareal. We have won three of the four UEFA Cup semi-final legs played at Anfield, drawing the other one but we still progressed on that occasion. Three of those encounters have come against Spanish opposition. While we won but failed to progress on the most recent encounter against Atletico, history is, as usual, on our side and hopefully we may be allowed to continue our love affair with this famous and beautiful old trophy.
Allez les rouges.
LFC record in European semi-finals (two legged ties)
Played 16
Won 11
Lost 5
Uefa Cup/Europa League semi-final record
Played 4
Won 3
Lost 1
