We won it at Anfield of course. There was no way a Klopp team wouldn't score at Old Trafford when a Van Gaal team needed to take risks. Still it was hugely satisfying to see the way Liverpool lorded it in the second half. As the game opened up and space got bigger it was inevitable that our players, who are much better than theirs, would begin to show their credentials. It must have made painful watching for the home fans which is why they either left the stadium 20 minutes into the second half or started with the Hillsborough song around the 60th minute mark. UEFA evidently thinks the latter is ok, just as it thought Fellaini's deliberate stamp and elbow combination on Emre Can in the first leg was ok.
I agree with Chopper that Man of the Match was either Lovren or Milner. Sakho was superb in the second half and delivered a sequence of exquisite passes to his midfield in the last 20 minutes, but Lovren was the more composed in the first half and I thought he held the defence together - especially after Clyne, normally so reliable, had a wobble or two. As for Milner, it was canny defending and a reminder of why the club snapped him up in the first place. He knows things.
The other stand-out performance was Can who is emerging as Liverpool's leader. Quick feet, quick over the ground, strong, brave, completely aware of what's happening around him and a sweet passer with all parts of his boot. It was no wonder that that German reporter plagued Klopp with a series of questions about Can (ineptly disguised as a single question) after the first leg. He is emerging as Liverpool's key player, and may do so soon for Germany as well. A lot of older supporters are seeing parallels with Graeme Souness. Perhaps that's a premature call but you can see what they mean. It's his attitude as much as anything else. There's something indomitable about him. There's also a beautiful balance about him when in possession of the ball - very Souness-like.
A word too on Lallana who covered every blade of grass and whose balance - if possible- is even better than Can's. The pirouettes, the Cruyff turns, the back heels all have a purpose when Lallana does them. They are about creating space and time for himself, or a colleague. They about the most damaging element on a football field in the final third - that of surprise. And right now they are almost always coming off. After the first leg, when Paul Scholes was put on suicide watch, the former Man U player vented his frustrations on the excellent Lallana who had just tormented United's defence with an array of brilliant flicks, turns and roll-overs. "Someone should do him", Scholes told the TV audience, "Someone should kick him." Certainly that's what Paul Scholes would have done. I'm sure the United players tried. But what can you do when you're chasing quicksilver like that?
The return leg ought to have been finished off before Coutinho did his Coutinho impression in the 45th minute. Once again De Gea made an unbelievable save - the save of the tie - to stop Coutinho's perfectly struck shot. And then Henderson did what Henderson often does with a clear sight on goal. He leant back, collapsed his left knee, went for a side foot and blazed the ball high and wide. We were better when Joe Allen came on.
The other disappointment on the night was Sturridge. He's a fabulous player and a precious one for Liverpool. But he looked diminished (again) alongside Coutinho, Lallana and Firmino. Unlike Lallana's, Sturridge's flicks and tricks often seem nothing more than showboating - a fancy way of working yourself into a dead end. "I like your step-overs Phil, now watch mine". We saw it in the second half after Coutinho did a 'Jinky Johnstone' through the Man U midfield as a prelude to releasing Sturridge who followed with a B-feature step-over before slicing a hopeless effort into the Scoreboard end. That was not the time to stop the ball and do a step-over lad. That was the time to either keep the ball moving with a sharp return pass or smack it first time with your favourite left foot. In the first half Sturridge had also declined to chase Can's gorgeous ball beyond Verala into the left wing channel, preferring to pull up abruptly, turn round and whinge to Can that the ball hadn't gone to feet. It looked doubly disgraceful when Can produced an identical ball to release Coutinho in the 45the minute. Coutinho chased after it.
He was hooked after 65 minutes and sloped off the pitch with a face that screamed "Injustice!" He needs to get his act together. The lad who came on for him showed how it's done. And he's getting better with every outing.
But let's not end on that sour note. We are through; they are out. Anfield is super-sonic and full of pageantry and passion; Old Trafford is a brooding mass of grey and bittereness. We have Klopp; they never will.
On to Dortmund, a real football club, like our own.
