Bring on yer Internazionale, bring on yer Roma by the score……
We just can’t keep ourselves away from old big ears can we? We are true European Royalty and we are finally back were we belong, competing once again to reclaim our throne.
It’s been a long and arduous journey to return to the latter stages of this competition. If you had told me in 2008, after John Arne Riise had inexplicably headed into his own net very late on to give Chelsea a crucial away goal in a 1-1 draw, that this would be the last European Cup semi-final played out in front of the Kop for another decade, I’d have laughed. Rafa Benitez had reminded us of our European pedigree and boy did it feel great. During the Spaniards spell at the club we swept aside all before us, from every corner of Europe. It didn’t matter who they were or where they came from, as soon as they entered the cauldron that is Anfield on a European night, the mighty were to fall. World class players didn’t have that aura around them once they went beyond the ‘This is Anfield’ sign. It was almost as if any players with swagger and panache like Paulo Nedved, Arjen Robben and Ronaldinho had in abundance, they seemed to leave it behind them in the tunnel and workaday players like Jerzey Dudek, Igor Biscan and Djimi Traore upped their game considerably. Juventus, Barcelona, Real Madrid, who the fuck are you trying to kid? We conquered them all. We feared no-one and no-one wanted to draw Liverpool out of the hat. We could go anywhere in Europe and return triumphant and at Anfield, usually, nobody stood a chance.. It was a winning formula born out of supreme tactical nous from a world class manager and superior support from all four corners of Anfield. And of course a belief from the players that they could be anything they wanted to be. That golden era was kick-started by a miracle in Istanbul, and while the current incumbents of the shirt haven’t yet had a miracle of their own, this campaign has seen a similar confidence within the team and dare I say, even a swagger on occasion, as we return to the biggest stage of all.
This side may be completely different in terms of its style to our last European Kings but they share the discipline, passion and hard work required to perform at this rarefied level of competition. This team have also beaten the English champions elect (as they were) and they did that with plenty to spare in the end, both home and away. Inter Milan, FC Bruges, St Etienne, Auxerre, Chelsea (twice), Dortmund, all fabled Anfield European nights and now Manchester City can possibly be added to that list. Yet another night of memories can be woven into that rich old tapestry. Yet another night of which the fortunate ones in attendance at Anfield can say "I was there" with a knowing smile.
Though there is perhaps another famous night in this competition that sometimes gets forgotten, in fact I deliberately omitted it from the list above. But now is the perfect time to revisit that night and hopefully rekindle some spin-tingling memories.
Liverpool vs AS Roma 19th March 2002.
Roma were perhaps the greatest side in Italy at this time with a team containing stars such as the totemic Francesco Totti alongside the experienced Argentine Gabriel Batistuta, both coached by the enigmatic but world class Fabio Capello.
But it didn’t matter who was lining up in the bright white shirts of Roma that night, nor who was giving them the tactical advice from the technical area. Liverpool were destined to prevail that night, though the players weren’t to know this until just a few hours before kick off. This was when Gerard Houllier, recovering from major heart surgery, appeared to shock the players by delivering an impromptu team talk. He would secretly be making his return to the dugout that night and from that moment on it didn’t matter who Liverpool were playing, they were simply going to win. His emergence from the tunnel was met with a welcoming roar from the Anfield faithful and it set the tone for the whole night.
Jari Litmanen got things underway nice and early by dispatching possibly the coolest penalty I have ever seen inside 6 minutes before Emile Heskey sealed the win with a towering header into the Kop goal in the 2nd half. I’ll let Clive Tyldsley talk you through this one:
<![CDATA[<a href="https://www.youtube.com/v/GDc4RXNnvhs" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" class="bbc_link bbc_flash_disabled new_win">https://www.youtube.com/v/GDc4RXNnvhs</a>]]> There’s not been many more fixtures between the two sides over the years for me to reference but there has certainly been some momentous and very memorable ones in which the Reds have fared quite well. A 2-0 win at Rome's Stadio Olimpico in February 2001 courtesy of a Michael Owen brace en route to the 2001 UEFA Cup Final was the first meeting between the two since 1984 although it took a jittery Spanish referee to award and then 'unaward' a penalty to Roma during a tense Anfield 2nd leg which could have levelled the tie at that point. Liverpool, in that famous gold kit, were on yet another European adventure that season and even teams like Roma and Barcelona couldn’t stop us. That previous 1984 fixture I mentioned above was of course the European Cup Final in which Roma held all the aces with the game being played at their own ground. Not too many people outside of England gave this Liverpool team much of a chance on that balmy evening in the Eternal City, not that Graeme Souness minded of course. He knew he was the best midfielder in Europe at the time, feted by many, and nothing would intimidate him as he led his comrades on a pre-match stroll around the pitch, eyeing up the spectators with a defiant stare. Liverpool were returning to the scene of their first European Cup win 7 years previously, their first capture of Europe’s most coveted prize. Phil Neal got things up and running for Liverpool that night in 84 but Roma levelled just before half time. It would stay like this for the remainder of the game and go all the way to a penalty shootout for the first time in the competitions history. Enter Stage Left the charismatic Zimbabwean Bruce Grobellaar who proceeded to give one of the most famous and eccentric displays of goalkeeping in the competitions history, his legs swaying like spaghetti as he faced up to the Roma penalty takers. The sheer insanity of what Brucie was doing must have bamboozled the Roma players as two of them subsequently missed their spot-kicks, giving Alan Kennedy the chance to seal an unlikely fourth European Cup in just 7 years. I don’t know what it is but I love it……….
This game of course isn’t just another game against Roma, it’s yet another European Cup semi-final, the ninth time we have reached this stage. We have progressed through to the Final on seven of those occasions, a pretty decent record at the business end of the competition! FC Zurich, Borussia Monchengladbach, Bayern Munich, Dinamo Bucharest, Panathinaikos and Chelsea (twice) have all felt the power of the Anfield Wall Of Sound on a European night. Some or maybe all of those teams came here possibly underestimating the might of the terraces. It can’t possibly affect the players on the pitch, can it? But anyone who has been lucky enough to be present at one of these famous nights will know it really is the real deal. Tens of thousands of people unite and become one, that extra person, the twelfth man. It’s an out of body experience that no drug in the world can replicate. A noise so loud you think you can hear people singing three days later, when it fact its just the 'Fields of Anfield Road' still echoing inside your head for the umpteenth time. It creates situations of sheer disbelief, it makes players in Red do great things and sometimes makes opposing players crumble and buckle under the pressure. Eidur Gudjohnsen doesn’t miss that chance anywhere else in the world in 2005, does he? Fuck, surely he can’t miss as I watch the highlights again for the millionth time, yet he does! Nobody quite knows how but maybe Shankly was right, maybe the Kop really do suck the ball in when Liverpool attack that goal and blow it away to safety when they’re defending it.
That night in 2005 is, at least to some of us younger fans, the jewel in our crown of European atmospheres created at Anfield. It was my first CL semi-final and as a twelve year old boy I couldn’t quite believe it. Why was my arl fella hugging that random stranger at the final whistle? But that’s just Anfield, we’re all together and striving for the same thing inside that stadium. Wave after wave of attack was met with song after song of defiance from the Kop. We shall not be moved. A ring of fire burning round the sides of the pitch and all across the Fields of Anfield Road. Scarfs swinging, banners waving and flags swaying. A sea of red drowning those who dare try to swim across it. This is what we need to recreate on Tuesday night, a wall of sound and defiance and I think we will. We always do on nights like this because it’s simply what we do best. We’re more experienced than any other English crowd at doing what is required of us by our team. This may be uncharted territory for all of our players but its not for us supporters and that is why we have the biggest part of all to play. There’s no cliché’s here, we , the fans, help our team to win games in Europe. Wherever you watch the game, be it at Anfield or down the pub or at home, take a pause and take it all in. Gaze in amazement at the Kop, look at those around you and you will get that feeling.
<![CDATA[<a href="https://www.youtube.com/v/5SItko13shM" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" class="bbc_link bbc_flash_disabled new_win">https://www.youtube.com/v/5SItko13shM</a>]]> The rest of England and Europe are casting an envious eye over us right now, laughing at us for daring to believe and dream once more. It doesn’t bother us though, it’s not their fault. They’ve never been in this situation, they don’t know what it’s like to be crowned Kings of Europe so many times that UEFA had to give us our own trophy to keep. We may ultimately fall short, we may go on and win the fucking thing once again but one thing is for certain: we’re back. We’re dreaming again, the next match can never come soon enough. Once again we fear no-one. We’ve conquered them all before. We’re never gonna stop.
Allez allez allez.
