SECOND BUS ATTACK HAS CLUB SEETHING
JURGEN KLOPP’S face was contorted, a mixture of anger and bewilderment. It was April 6, 2018, and Liverpool’s manager was processing his emotions before embarking on his onslaught. ‘I feel embarrassed,’ Klopp hissed.
‘I don’t have the words. It is idiots in this situation. How can you do that? You give this opportunity to the people to create something wonderful, but the people do not understand the rules.’
Klopp was devastated about the damage that had been inflicted on Manchester City’s coach before a Champions League quarter-final. He apologised profusely to Pep Guardiola but City have never forgotten that night — particularly the fact no arrests were made.
Fast forward three years and another team visiting Anfield suffered a similar experience.
A window on the Real Madrid coach was cracked by an object flung from a crowd that had gathered on Anfield Road. It was not an attack on the scale of the one unleashed on City’s vehicle but whoever did it damaged a club’s reputation all the same. Liverpool — as was the case on the night of the City game — wasted no time in issuing a statement. It said: ‘We condemn unequivocally the actions that led to Real Madrid’s team bus being damaged during its arrival to Anfield this evening. ‘It is totally unacceptable and shameful behaviour of a few individuals. We sincerely apologise to our visitors for any distress caused. We will work together with Merseyside Police to establish the facts and identify those responsible.’ There is no excuse this time. There were not the same kind of crowds outside the stadium — there should not have been any, given Covid restrictions — and the CCTV footage should not be hard to decipher. Merseyside Police must act. In a season of wall-to-wall negativity, this was the last thing Liverpool needed to be caught up in.
And do not underestimate how angry Klopp will be about it all. He is proud to be Liverpool’s manager. He has embraced everything about the club’s history and tradition. What the deadheads do not understand is that Klopp will feel this as if the object was flung directly at him. This was a night he hoped and expected to be all about football. That there is another narrative will hurt him deeply.