REAL PAIN... GREAT AGAIN Liverpool road to glory started with European final heartbreak
LIVERPOOL’S LIKELY LINE-UP (4-3-3)
WHEN Liverpool last took on Real Madrid, the final defeat they suffered inspired them to go on to become kings of Europe and champions of England over the following two seasons.
Now the Reds will be hoping tonight’s meeting with the Spanish giants can help rescue this campaign.
Victory over two legs in the Champions League quarter-final tie with Real will put Liverpool within touching distance of a seventh European Cup crown.
And that would keep their stunning rise going from an agonising night back in 2018.
Often the words after a final defeat can be hollow.
But when Liverpool captain Jordan Henderson stood in the bowels of Kiev’s Olympic Stadium almost three years ago and spoke with the media, it would end up being a prophecy for the future.
“I believe in this team,” said the England midfielder after the 3-1 defeat by Zinedine Zidane’s Real side left goalkeeper Loris Karius, above, in tears
“I believe we are going in the right direction. It is so difficult to stand here now and say that but that is the truth, it is how I feel.
“We have to make it happen. I believe we will be back in a Champions League final.
“I believe we will be challenging in all competitions domestically.
“The Premier League is important to us and we have qualified for the Champions League next year.
“We need to do rather than later.”
Henderson lifted the Champions League title 12 months later, and another year on from that he became the first Liverpool captain to raise the Premier League trophy as the club ended a frustrating 30-year wait to be crowned top-flight kings.
That night in Kiev stirred something in Liverpool – they did not want to feel final heartache again. They had been badly affected by it sooner the shoulder injury sustained by striker Mo Salah after Sergio Ramos brought him down in the first half.
Salah will not get his reunion with Ramos tonight, though, as the Spanish defender is missing through injury.
But it will be a chance for the Egyptian to show what he could have done against Real if his 2018 final had not ended early.
In spite of Liverpool’s rise to the top of the pile in Europe and England, they arrive in Spain having had a season to forget thus far. The squad is stronger now than it was in 2018 and they possess two major trophies.
But they have been ravaged by injuries, which means there will be no Henderson, Virgil van Dijk, Joe Gomez or Joel Matip in Madrid.
Failure in this tie would mean the season ending without silverware after a timid defence of their Premier
League crown.
It would be a first sign of regression after years on an upward trajectory under Jurgen Klopp if Liverpool do not move past Real.
To progress, those filling in such as Nat Phillips in defence will need to produce the performances of their careers.
But Phillips, who was not even in the Champions League squad for the group stages, refuses to be overawed.
“Real are iconic,” he said. “That shows in what they’ve achieved as a club, the trophies they’ve won and the level they’ve maintained for years and years.
“But when you’re coming up against them as opposition, you don’t look at that.
“At the same time, Liverpool are on the same level.
“We’ve to treat it just like another game.”