A FIGHTBACK WORTHY OF CLUB’S HISTORY

PUT yourself in the Liverpool dressing room at half-time and think of what was on the line: it wasn’t just a trip to Paris, but the potential loss of a moment in history. Such enormous opportunities carry a huge emotional burden. Had Liverpool capsized in Villarreal, the ramifications of such a result would have been felt in the Premier League and, potentially, the FA Cup final, too. You don’t tend to recover quickly when you have been embarrassed. So there you have it — these were the highest of high stakes, all or nothing depending on which way the dice fell. Can you imagine how Anfield would have been on Saturday against Tottenham had Unai Emery masterminded one of the all-time great comebacks? Now Jurgen Klopp’s team will walk into a furnace this weekend and have the impetus to continue their pursuit of Manchester City in the Premier League. That they are able to do this is down to a feat of escapology up there with anything they have produced in their European history. To watch the opening 45 minutes was like going back in time to another era. Liverpool hadn’t played this badly in a semi-final since surrendering against Aston Villa in the FA Cup seven years ago. For context, in the opening half their passing accuracy was 66 per cent — the lowest in any game they had played since the 2019 Champions League final. It was actually a surprise the figure was so high, as everything seemed so clunky and ill-advised. It’s not as if they were unaware of what could happen. Mention 2019 and you should immediately think of a Champions League semi-final when the second leg featured a team in yellow and the outcome was deemed a foregone conclusion. Never assume anything in football — ever. Klopp had to take a deep breath when he was asked on Monday if the job had been done and with good reason. Villarreal were never going to do anything other than approach this skirmish with the intention of leaving nothing behind. But then came the half-time team talk and the introduction of Luis Diaz. Will this go down in folklore in the same way that David Fairclough’s introduction against Saint-Etienne in the 1977 quarter-finals did? Possibly. All seemed lost in that clash, with Liverpool pursuing the Treble. Fairclough’s introduction kick-started Liverpool’s comeback and they went on to win the European Cup and the league title. However, they lost to Manchester United in the FA Cup final. There is still much work to be done this year and they won’t get away with another 45 minutes like this again — but they are still fighting. In a season which will see them play every possible game in the calendar, it is a remarkable achievement.