Liverpool Football Club played a Champions League knockout match for the first time in nine years on Wednesday night and boy did they show up to the party in style. The club has a magical relationship with Europe's elite domestic cup competitions having won old big ears five times, as if any of us forgot.
During those nine years the reds have had a poor European record despite the clubs long-time affiliation with winning cups on the continent, the only thing to show on any level is a Europa League final defeat to Sevilla in 2017 when Liverpool surrendered a half time 1-0 lead to lose 3-1 in Basel.
That was Jurgen Klopp's maiden season in Europe with Liverpool and he took no time in restoring the Merseyside clubs standing on the continent with eye catching displays against his former club Borrusia Dortmund, a quarter final against Manchester United and the semi-final win against Villareal en route to Switzerland.
Having guided Liverpool to fourth place in the Premier League in 2016/17, Klopp had engineered the return to Champions League football which the fans and club had craved.
A debate still rolls on with people comparing Klopp's record to that of Brendan Rodgers with the suggestion being the club has not moved on since Rodgers was replaced by Klopp just 18 months after the Irishman almost won the league.
This is where the European identity of the club must be brought into the debate when comparing the two managers time at Anfield.
I can personally remember watching Liverpool in the Champions League and Europa League in 2014/15 as Rodgers' Liverpool stuttered to 1 win, two draws and three defeats in the former.
That year, Liverpool's first game was a 2-1 win against Ludogorets at Anfield, this was followed by a 1-0 defeat to Basel at St. Jakob-Park, next was a 3-0 hiding from Real Madrid on Merseyside two weeks before losing the return fixture 1-0 at the Bernabau. Poor form continued in the remaining fixtures drawing 2-2 away to Ludogorets and 1-1 against Basel at home leaving Liverpool 3rd place in the group and falling into the Europa League.
The displays from the team in 2014/15 seemed to be cagey at best, showing teams far too much respect it was as if the club was learning how to play in Europe for the first time ever, taking an approach to games you would expect to see from a club such as Ipswich, it was flat, dull and horrible to watch as the players played with fear of losing to teams like Ludogarets.
One of my personal goals for the club after Jurgen Klopp took over was to see Liverpool restore some credibility and stature in Europe again after those painful displays under Rodgers. In light of the latest round of Klopp versus Rodgers rumblings I think it is the German who has the upper hand on this one and Wednesday night's demolition of Porto proved this to me.
Liverpool are now the Champions League top scorers with 28 goals contributing to the 99 scored in all competitions by the in-form reds.
Liverpool's latest champions League campaign began with a group stage qualifier in a 2-1 against Hoffenheim in Germany with Trent Alexander-Arnold's free kick sending Liverpool back on their way towards sealing qualification with the return leg at Anfield ending in a 4-2 win for Klopp's team.
Next it was time for that theme song to return to Anfield adding its trademark magicas Sevilla travelled to the city which dares to dream.
Liverpool drew 2-2 after leading 2-0 in that game with the next round confirming a slow start to the group stages for for team with a 1-1 draw away at Spartak Moscow.
Liverpool found their free scoring touch in the next game at Maribor with a 7-0 win which included a first goal for new signing Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain as well as doubles for Roberto Firmino and Mohamed Salah as well as a strike for Philippe Coutinho, now at Barcelona.
Back at Anfield, Maribor were more resolute as Liverpool won 3-0 before a 3-3 draw in Sevilla and another 7-0 win against Spartak Moscow at Anfield secured Liverpool's passage to the next round with Porto next to come.
Liverpool had not played a Champions League knock-out game in nine years, Porto was seen as a tricky tie with the in form Portuguese unbeaten in 21 games boasting a mean defence and dangerous attack. 3200 Liverpool fans travelled in hope of some European Cup romance with many swapping a night with the Mrs for the game. Lacy underwear was abandoned for laced up boots, sexy football was the order of the day.
Liverpool carried out a Valentines day massacre of Porto with a stunning 5-0 win which sent a huge message to other teams in the competition, turning out another stunning display of high-octane attacking football which is becoming customary for Klopp's team. Now more people can see the work the German is doing at Anfield.
Is this European identity restored? I'd say it is.
The performances of the team not only in this seasons Champions League, but also on the domestic front has earned acclaim from pundits throughout the year with the football being played drawing many admirers.
If we compare the jobs of Jose Mourinho and Klopp at the times they took over they both had the task of restoring the image of the clubs, both men had taken roles where they knew had global attention placed on every move they made, each game is huge.
Klopp is restoring the clubs wow factor and giving the fans some of the most exciting football they have ever seen, this may be a reason Klopp will have less pressure on him to win trophies maybe but we are seeing improvement all the time, can the same be said about Manchester United under Jose?
The "Special One" has been more like the "Stale One" this year with his team reflecting his personality by churning out dull displays which agitate the Old Trafford faithful more so than not.
Yet Klopp had energised Liverpool, invigorated the fans and pundits as well as adding a style of play which is turning heads faster than Mohamed Salah's impulse drive towards his first 30 goals for the club.
Klopp has given Liverpool fans that magic which is attributed to the club on Champions League nights, both home and away, this is the spirit of Liverpool, this is what we missed under Rodgers on European nights.
Brendan Rodgers is arguably the best British manager around at the moment and nobody will forget the season we "almost" won the league.
The atmosphere, the fans lining the streets to welcome the team bus before games, the season was fantastic to look back on apart from some famous slip-ups which mean it goes down in history as a Manchester City league title.
But one thing not many will remember, or, I have not heard many people mention when debating who is the better Liverpool manager between Klopp and Rodgers is, the European identity of our club.
We have won it five times and after Wednesday night in Porto Liverpool F.C is now in the driving seat towards the quarter finals and then the magic begins to get more intense, the atmosphere gets louder, the tingles get stronger as those hairs on our arms stand up more than ever.
We are back in the business end of the Champions League and with all the teams left in it opting for a mainly attacking style of play it remains to be seen if they are walking int the lions den when facing Liverpool who are ready to pounce on any defence which leaves questions for our blistering forward line to answer.
There is that feeling that builds when we watch Liverpool in the latter stages of the competition and it is about to go into overdrive during the next few weeks with the fans already wondering who we will play in the quarter finals ad the question will then be can we outscore who ever we play over two legs?
Would you bet against us at the minute?
And this is the reason I think Klopp is the better manager for our club.
No comments:
Post a Comment