Chelsea have been to Anfield already this season, and it was an early kick off on New Year’s Day. The difference between the atmosphere that day and the atmosphere that will await them tonight has obviously been underestimated by those at Stamford Bridge.
Kezman said as much in a recent interview when he naively said "Yes, it will be a very big atmosphere at Anfield and they talk a lot about atmosphere there. But last time I didn't see so much."
Didn’t see so much aye Kezza, you will tonight!
It’s on exiting days like these that I remember great nights of the past, the obvious one to start with is Roma at home in the Champions League.
I arrived at the ground late because of train problems. My tickets had been left at the ticket office for me, and I had to queue for ages to get them. The game kicked off as I finally got my tickets, and I ran towards the Shankly Gates, unable to quite believe that I had missed the kick off of such a vital game!
Once inside, I found that my seat was in virtually the same place as my season ticket seat – Main Stand, right near the away fans. As I climbed the final stairs to see the shimmering green pitch appear before me, the referee awarded a penalty for a foul on Danny Murphy, or at least I think it was Murphy. I got to my seat just as Litmanen placed his penalty into the net, and the ground literally exploded into sound.
The atmosphere that day was electric from start to finish, and the singing all around left me horse and with a massive headache … Gerard Houllier’s first game back, and we won 2-0.
In my usually seat, there isn’t much atmosphere usually, and I was pleasantly amazed at the noise being created by what seemed like every man, woman and child in the ground. Heskley was magnificent that night, and he terrified the life out of the Roma rearguard. He capped a fine performance with the winning goal – the crucial second goal, which meant Liverpool progressed and Roma went out.
I remember the song that the Roma fans started singing, which included man Utd and Arsenal in it’s lyrics. Didn’t have a clue what they were saying, but it couldn’t be up to much if it included them lot in it, so together with the rest of the ground we started singing “LAZIO, LAZIO, LAZIO” to the tune of our own Liverpool chant. I was close enough to the Roma fans to see their reaction … they looked like Gremlins that had water poured over them!
What a night, what a performance, what a result and what an amazing atmosphere. If we can re create that tonight, and our boy’s play like we know they can, we are going to Istanbul. Of that I am sure.
Fuuuuuuuck off, Chelsea FC,
You aint got no his-toor-eeee,
Four Euro Cups, and eighteen leagues,
That’s what we call his-toor-eeee