AUF WIEDERSEHEN, PET!
Liverpool rout the cream of Germany
And then there were four. It was 2009 when English football last made up half of a Champions League quarter-final draw. Liverpool were first through the door that time, beating arguably the greatest name in European football, Real Madrid.
That was good. This, if anything, was better. This was one of the finest results by any English club in Europe, given that Liverpool had drawn the home leg.
Bayern Munich are European royalty with all the sense of entitlement and privilege that entails. no sooner have they hit the top of their domestic league than the talk begins of trebles. The German Cup and, of course, this: the club championship of Europe.
Barcelona reached the Champions League quarter-finals for a record- equalling 17th time last night — and it was Bayern Munich’s record they equalled.
There were close to 70,000 in the Allianz Arena, and they came expecting only one outcome. Long before the end they were streaming towards the exits. Liverpool were in a different class.
So: England 3 Germany 0. Three matches against Bundesliga opposition for Premier League teams, three victories.
This isn’t a vintage season for German football. Munich are top of the league again, but unless Liverpool caught them on an off night, look very ordinary. Liverpool’s forwards are far superior — particularly Sadio Mane in his current form — and Munich’s defence was never as comfortable as they had appeared at Anfield.
Add to this Tottenham’s home and away wins over Borussia dortmund and Manchester City’s 10-goal aggregate against Schalke and this was an emphatic statement by English football. But Liverpool’s win was the pick of the bunch. It will have meant much to manager Jurgen Klopp, too — a triumphant return to his homeland and a marker put down against its greatest team, particularly in the second half when Munich should have been chasing the win, but barely had a sniff.
This was a triumph of organisation in all areas. not just picking Munich off, but shutting them down. Liverpool lost Jordan Henderson, such an influence on European nights, after 13 minutes when he rolled an ankle, but did not skip a beat. Fabinho slipped into central midfield and Liverpool continued to chase Munich from their turf. It was an outstanding performance, fully deserving of victory; magnificent defence and a cutting, match-winning edge.
At 1-1, Liverpool were going through on away goals anyway, but two goals in the second half negated the need for UEFA’s aid. Mane scored his second of the night and Virgil van dijk his third in four games. What a buy he has been. not just a defensive gamechanger, but a man capable of changing games with goals, too.
Munich were excellent at Liverpool, but it was a negative performance, devoid of ambition. When Robert Lewandowski had a deflected shot travel weakly through to Alisson after 30 minutes here, it represented the first time in two hours of football against Liverpool that they had mustered a shot on target.
Liverpool were different. They came to do a job, but not to steal the game. They played with more ambition than Munich at Anfield. They didn’t risk, they were not cavalier, but they got at Munich, most successfully through Mane.
He is in the form of his life, with 10 goals in as many matches. His first of the night, though, came with unlikely assistance from the scrambled mind of Manuel neuer. He is often cited as the best goalkeeper in the world, the epitome of the sweeper-keeper. What was he thinking?
It wasn’t just that his positioning was poor or his reading of the game rash, more that he was turned inside out by a lovely piece of skill from Mane.
neuer it was who turned drama into crisis. It was always going to be tense, trying to keep a clean sheet against one of the finest forward lines in Europe, yet neuer’s unnecessary panic placed Munich at a disadvantage.
The goal was scored after 27 minutes and at no time from that point were Munich going through.
The goalless away draw is deceptive. On the face of it a good result, in reality fraught with danger. Concede one in the second leg, and the home team must immediately score twice.
So, there was a huge amount at stake when neuer’s nerve snapped. There had already been signs that Munich were getting tense at the back. Sloppy play, simple passes kicked into touch.
Yet neuer’s response to a very rudimentary tactic — a long ball upfield by Van dijk for Mane to run on to — was disastrous.
There were still Munich defenders around to cover but he tore from his line, almost to the edge of his area. He failed dismally in preventing danger. Instead, Mane took a delightful touch, spun and left neuer for dead.
The goal was empty. He clipped the ball towards the far corner, out of the influence of Mats Hummels chasing back in desperation.
When Munich got back in the game after 39 minutes, it was another goal that relied rather heavily on human error. Serge Gnabry, whom West Brom fans may be mildly surprised to see featuring in the knockout stages of the Champions League, burst down the right and got past the usually reliable
Andrew Robertson. He crossed and Joel Matip, panicked by the appearance of Lewandowski on his shoulder, turned the ball into his own net.
Matip suffers in comparison to the excellent Van Dijk, but he was trapped here. Facing his own goal, he was an accident waiting to happen but, had he left the ball, Lewandowski would almost certainly have scored.
On the touchline, Klopp went berserk and appeared to be blaming Van Dijk, perhaps for not closing Gnabry down sooner when Robertson was beaten. It was a goal that would have made awkward repeat viewing for more than one Liverpool man.
Yet if Van Dijk was carrying the can, he more than made amends after 69 minutes. With Liverpool still vulnerable to a Munich goal, Van Dijk rose above Hummels to meet a James Milner corner and leave Munich chasing two goals in 21 minutes for victory, They barely came close. Instead, it was Liverpool who scored another, Mane meeting a Mohamed Salah cross at the far post with a brave header. The locals headed home and no doubt in some elite corridor, a plan began forming to further curb Premier League power: FFP plus plus, maybe.
The 2007-08 campaign was another that included four English quarterfinalists. That year only English teams eliminated English teams in Europe; Liverpool beating Arsenal, Chelsea beating Liverpool, Manchester United defeating Chelsea in the final.
Will it be the same again? The draw is tomorrow. Watch this space.