It was proved once again that Liverpool is not just a club and that there is something special about the Reds and Anfield. They eliminated Barcelona in the Champions League semifinals, in a way only a few people on this globe could imagine.
Jurgen Klopp’s boys smashed one of the best teams in Europe with 4-0, and progressed to the finals winning this matchup 4-3 on aggregate.
It is something which will stay forever written in all the sports publications.
According to Klopp himself, he never watched a game like tonight’s, and he did have several pretty intense contests throughout his coaching career.
“I’ve watched so many games in my life but I can’t remember any games like this,” the German stated.
Watch the Game Highlights from Liverpool vs. Barcelona, 05/07/2019 https://t.co/kCEkaiBYst
— GOAL Asia (@GOALasia) May 7, 2019
Everything started very well for the hosts who opened the game with a goal seven minutes into the match. Jordan Henderson took a shot from some 13 yards, but Ter Stegen reacted good, and he deflected the ball wide. But what was bad for the young goalie was Origi’s reaction, because he stood two yards away and responded instantly by placing the ball into the net.
Barcelona woke up, and the guests from Catalonia had several excellent chances to strike back, but either they failed to score, or Alisson denied their efforts.
The German coach was very satisfied with the way his goalie performed.
“There are more spectacular goalkeepers out there but he was always getting his body behind the ball.”
Liverpool too had a few opportunities to double the lead, but nothing happened on the field until the break.
During the pause, Klopp had to replace Andy Robertson with Giorgino Wijnaldum, which turned out to be his best move in the last few months. The midfielder form the Netherlands netted two times in the span of two minutes.
On both occasions, Wijnaldum was rushing into the box from outside and towards the penalty kick spot.
The first hit was after Alexander-Arnold’s low pass which was met by the midfielder’s ruthless strike from some 11 yards. Ter Stegen had no chances of denying that one. The other score was from the opposite side, only now Saqiri made a high cross. Wijnaldum jumped in the air far above any defender and scored the third goal of the day, his second.
The fourth one was a classy move which required a bit of cheeky behavior. Arnold was about to let the corner kick to one of his teammates, but he suddenly turned around and sent the ball towards the middle of the box, where Origi stood alone, without anyone around to challenge him.
There wasn’t any problem for the Belgian to beat Barca’s defence once again.
“It was just instinct,” said Arnold who didn’t have any special deals with Origin in situations like this one.” You see the opportunity. Gini is a top player, he scored two goals. Everyone will remember this moment.”
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It was the 79th minute, and Liverpool was on the brink of a historic achievement. The Reds somehow endured remaining 15 minutes and eliminated Barcelona from one European competition for the fourth time in their head-to-head history.
Ernesto Valverde was stunned, shocked and very, very disappointed.
“But for the moment, we’re blown away. It’s terrible. We’re really, really sorry,” he said. “This is football, and these things can happen.”
What is a bit interesting is that a similar situation like this one happened to Valverde during the previous season when Barca suffered an elimination against Roma in the quarterfinals.
His future at Barca’s bench is very unclear after tonight’s loss.
Liverpool now awaits their opponents in the finals. Ajax and Tottenham meet tomorrow, and the Dutch side has a goal of advantage from the first leg played in London.
This is Liverpool’s ninth finals, and they have 5 trophies so far. They lost one of those four finals last season against Real with 3-1.
Nikola Velickovic is a sports journalist who loves to write and read on all sports. Nikola contributes both news updates and functions as a sports breaking news writer at WagerBop.
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Email: nikola@wagerbop.com
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