It is absolutely mad to be a Liverpool fan right now. If the excitement, ecstasy and agony of the league run in isn't good enough for you then you can just focus on us being in another Champions League semi-final. This is a truly brilliant tie between two European greats who have both won this competition 5 times. Virgil Van Dijk, Lionel Messi, Sadio Mane, Luis Suarez, Mo Salah, Gerard Pique, Bobby Firmino, Phil Coutinho, Alisson, Sergio Busquets, Naby Keita, Ivan Rakitic….
You get the picture. We are rightfully where we belong to be but also blessed to be here IMO. Klopp and his staff and the players have made this seem normal again when quite recently we wondered if we would ever be here again. You dont want to take these nights for granted becuase things can turn on a dime in life and sport but I'm confident that we are so well run now in all deparments that this will be the norm going forward. Liverpool FC v FC Barcelona, European Cup semi-final. Sounds good, doesn't it?
As for the two games themselves it is difficult to predict if you take away the bias. Since I knew they were in our side of the draw I said that we could just be too energetic and too intense for them. The speed of play in the Spanish league isn't at the level of the Premier League and whilst I'm not a statto I'd be confident that the numbers back that up in terms of sprints and distance covered. Sure, they have players with incredible technical ability who will be confident that they can play around our press but I see Messi, I see Coutinho, I see Suarez at 32, I see Rakitic and Busquets the wrong side of 30 along with Pique, and I wonder over 2 legs if they just wont be able to keep up with us physically. Messi often walks for periods of the game and he's allowed that luxury because he's the greatest to ever play the game. But we need to somehow exploit that when we have the chance.
It isn't just the intensity of our football, it is what that intensity signals. Win the ball back high with a counter-press and have three or four lethal players bearing down on goal. We don't just press to disrupt or to make it awkward, we press to give our forwards the best opportunity to score. Now for many games this season the press hasnt been needed, or we've not pressed like madmen for 90 minutes, but against Barcelona that can't be the case. I think these two games will display Klopp's famed 'heavy metal football' and it'll be an absolute joy to watch. Getting the away goal (or 2) will be absolute key, we need something to take back to Anfield. Not scoring an away goal puts us in a quite precarious position, and a 0-0 draw could just about be the worst result possible.
I'm confident we can get through but Barcelona are still a world class side. Forget all this about them not being the force of old, that particular side people reference was one of the best you'll ever see. This is a level below that for sure, but that doesn't take away from how good they are and can be.
Number 6. It isn't that far away.
