One Night in Liverpool

The only words that can sum up the Europa League second leg clash between Liverpool and Borussia Dortmund is Holy Shit. People will often dub comebacks or upsets as "miracles". Often these so called miracles are not worthy of such praise. They do not stand the test of time. Well, I say this with no sense of irony, this comeback against Dortmund was miraculous. For so long in this match Dortmund looked as good as advertised. The club that were supposed to win the Europa League and next to PSG and Bayern had already qualified for Champions League. The team that was on a unbeaten streak. Dortmund dominated the first half against Liverpool, they were more aggressive and composed. Even after the Origi goal in the second half, Dortmund answered with their own from Reus. Dortmund were on pace to put a 5-1 on Liverpool, like they had done Tottenham in the previous round.  It appeared that Liverpool would come up short and be eliminated from the Europa League. You could just see the headlines in the papers questioning if Klopp could win the big match at Liverpool.

But this is not your fathers Liverpool team. A team that would have folded under Brendan Rodgers. This Liverpool team will not give up as they have in recent years. They had shown this fighting spirit in games like the one against Crystal Palace and Norwich, where they trailed for the majority of the matches,yet found a way to win the matches. Sure those clubs are not on the same level as Dortmund, but this shows that Klopp's Liverpool will go down fighting. Oh and how these players fought. As soon as the team went down 3-1, the players were at their best. The aggression of the team was like a wounded dog. The players fought for every ball and put pressure on Dortmund. There were golden chances that were created and some of them like the Firmino header were so close to bringing the team back early on. If it is possible every player should win player of the match. There was absolutely no quit in this club. 

What makes this comeback so impressive are the players that were key to this comeback. Outside of Coutinho, it were the players that have been so,e of the most criticized that contributed the most. First it was Origi, the young man that had been labeled as the worst player in France last year. The player that many had said could not score goals, was the first goal scorer. It was his goal that showed that Dortmund's defense was not impenetrable, that Weidenfeller could be beat. Let us talk about Coutinho for a second. He has been the best player on Liverpool for 2 years now, yet the club has won 0 trophies. Coutinho said that he came to Liverpool to win trophies, now he is 2 games away from doing so. In the 62nd minute, Klopp brought on Joe Allen. Outside of Mingolet, there has not been a single player on the Liverpool roster more maligned than Joe Allen. He was Rodgers first signing and has become a internet meme for his looks.  If one had done a Twitter search of Joe Allen during the match, one would see tweets asking if Klopp was admitting defeat by bringing Allen on. Yet, Allen manhandled Dortmund. Controlling the pace of the match, keeping possession and frustrating Dortmund. Allen's substitution proved to be the game changer. Then there is the 3rd goal scorer Sakho. The centerback has been lambasted by Liverpool fans, yet there he was scoring the goal to tie the match. Sakho had been responsible for 2 of the Dortmund goals, yet no one will remember that. Instead his celebration with Lovren will forever be that image.  Of course there is Lovren, another maligned defender. Yet now he lives in Liverpool lore as the man that won one of the best comebacks in Europa League history.

Every single Liverpool fan is quick to bring up Istanbul 2005 as the greatest match in Liverpool history. That distinction is well deserved as the club made a tremendous comeback against one of the best Inter Milan teams assembled. The match had a Inter team going up 2 goals early and Liverpool fighting back to tie and win the game in penalties. The stakes were obviously higher in Istanbul, but now this Europa league victory can go right up there in the pantheon of greatest Liverpool victories. After so much abuse Liverpool fans have taken as the club has toiled in the midtable in recent years. There is also the infamous Steven Gerrard slip that cost Liverpool the Premier League title. It has been a rough stretch to be a Liverpool fan. Yet this one night, in the best game of the year, Liverpool fans can feel on top of the world. They can wrap their arms around this team and embrace these players as some of the hardest working, resilient players in the sport.

What should not get lost in all this celebration is that this was the 27th anniversary of the Hillsborough Disaster. Like Istanbul, the Hillsborough disaster is entrained into the fabric of what it means to be a Liverpool fan. It was a senseless disaster and one that could have been avoided. On this anniversary it was only appropriate that Liverpool bring some small sense of joy to those that had suffered or those that had friends/family that suffered on that terrible day. That is what sports are supposed to deal: heal.

Everyone thought the game was over when Dortmund went 3-1 up. The pundits calling the game had begun to talk about how Liverpool's Europa campaign was going to end in disappointment. How Dortmund was going to win the Europa League and how Liverpool were going to have another middling season. But as Jurgen Klopp talked bait at halftime, these Liverpool players created a moment their children will remember. Istanbul will always be the greatest night of any Liverpool fans life, yet on a night in Liverpool the team gave the fans a moment that will last a lifetime.