And we’re back. Back where we belong, rubbing shoulders against Europe’s elite in a quest to be reunited with our old friend Big Ears. Ok, so maybe it’s a bit too early for talk of rekindling our love with the European Cup; we must successfully navigate our way through fixtures against Maribor, Spartak Moscow and Sevilla before we can perhaps dare to dream. There are no elite level teams at this stage to face this team around, unlike our last foray into this competition where we were met with the class of Real Madrid and the brilliance of Ronaldo. The other two teams in the shape of Swiss outfit FC Basel and unknowns Ludogorets gave us hope of passage through to the knockout stages. Yet we faltered, stumbling into 3rd place, only a point ahead of Ludogorets, and a deflating 13 points behind European giants Madrid. A sobering return to the promised land on that occasion and perhaps reason to be wary of a potential slip up this time around as well. Sevilla have beaten us in a European Final under Klopp’s leadership recently, Moscow is not a fun place to go and Maribor will be more than up for it and will want to upset the apple cart. I saw a lot of responses across RAWK and the wild world of social media that this was ‘the best draw possible’ and ‘we will breeze through’, giving the majority of the fanbase a confidence and arrogance that progressing into the last 16 is a mere formality. I’m hoping refreshing people’s memories of that last hopeless Champions League campaign will bring them to realise we must treat all these teams with respect yet bring them hell when they do arrive to play under the illustrious Anfield floodlights.
These Anfield nights are what we are famous for, what teams across the land and on the continent know us for. We are renowned for a European atmosphere. Inter Milan, St Etienne, Chelsea, Dortmund. Countless players, both for and against, have mentioned the affects of the crowd. Some opposition players enjoy it (so they say) and some most certainly buckle under the pressure. This fixture should create an atmosphere that we know we can produce. If we want the players to do their job and not let us down then we must perform our duties as best we can as well. And we've set the bar quite fucking high there, haven't we? I don't think we could ever replicate
that Chelsea fixture again, but we can certainly create a sea of red and a wall of noise for 90 minutes. We're capable, so lets produce the goods and the men in Red on the pitch will do their thing and blow Sevilla away.
We simply cannot let ourselves down in this European campaign. All of last seasons work was precisely for this competition. The top 4 goal set out at the start of the season was accomplished and after sweeping Hoffenheim to one side with two scintillating attacking performances we have got our prize. To simply turn up and make the numbers in this campaign would not be deemed good enough given the potential ease of this draw on paper. As I said, I myself will not be counting my chickens just yet but I am hopeful we can make a mark in this competition given the quality we have throughout the side and the world class manager leading them.
This is a new experience for a lot of this squad and for the few that have tasted the Champions League, none have had any real success in which they have contributed massively. The manager, however, does have experience of relative ‘success’, guiding his immense Dortmund side to the Final in Wembley back in 2013. They were denied in the dying moments on that occasion, meaning Klopp’s trip to the Capital was to end in heartbreak. If Jurgen can find a way through the group stages with his young, exciting side this time around then there won’t be anybody queuing up to face us. But like I said; lets not get ahead of ourselves and focus on the group stage matches first and we start with Sevilla.
Just the mention of the Spanish side’s name is enough to bring back horrible memories of that Final back in 2016. Victory that night would have meant a return to this competition last season and perhaps a shortcut to quicker success. Alas, it simply wasn’t to be. That game in Basel was the only competitive fixture between the two sides and we will be aiming for revenge in this European campaign. They may have recent excellent and unrivalled success with Big Ears little brother but European Royalty they are not; we are part of an exclusive club in that respect. And when they come to Anfield next Wednesday they will be met with an atmosphere they have never seen before, a sea of red and white with the most spectacular banners raised aloft on the Kop. We can only hope that the presence and ferociousness of the fans is enough to put them off their game. If not then the quality of the 11 Redmen on the pitch will have to do. And there will be plenty of that.
The pace, vigour and swagger of Mane, Salah and Firmino will create nightmares for even the most solid of defences at home and abroad this season and this gives them the chance to showcase their skills at the top table. They have earned the right to be there; now they must show they belong there. The return to fitness (sniggers) of Coutinho will give these 3 even more ammunition in which to shoot down the opposition and that can only be good news for us. You’d fancy we can outscore just about anyone we come up against this season but I’d settle for a 1-0 right now! Sadly with our defence clean sheets don’t seem likely, although the stat of 7 of those in the last 9 league games perhaps dispelling that myth. I’m personally not so sure and think we are very lightweight back there. That has been discussed enough across the board here though so that’s enough from me. Onto the midfield and with Emre Can’s return to form, Wijnaldum seeming to love performing at home with perhaps the obvious inclusion of their Skipper could give Klopp a potential headache in the midfield with the aforementioned Brazilian magician returning to ‘fitness’. There's murmurs of Karius being given the nod for the Champions League games this season which is good for him but perhaps not good for stability and balance at the back. I prefer Loris and think he will be a great keeper but personally I'd rather we just chose one of the 3 good goalkeepers we have on the books and stick with them. I trust Klopp to get it right in the long run though so no real need for someone like me to go on about the selection or the tactics too much. I’ll leave that to the excellence of Klopp, his staff and the posters of RAWK.
One final note: This was written before yesterdays 'performance' so the following sentences appear even more prominent now: Please don’t whinge and please don’t moan about what did or didn’t happen in the transfer window or indeed yesterdays game. We’re where we belong so enjoy it, savour it, as it hasn’t happened all that often over the last 7 years. This is our competition, our bread and butter and we can beat anybody on our sacred turf. We are European Royalty. We are Liverpool.
