A dejected Thomas Tuchel attempted to describe his feelings on a game his side had somehow just lost 4-3, "It's not explainable" he said. He's right. When you watch a team like Liverpool on a European night at Anfield, there's something in the air, nobody is quite sure what it is, it's unexplainable, but it's there. The fans can feel it, the manager can feel it but most importantly, the players feel it. It's a presence that only Liverpool seem to hold and it's the reason you can never, ever write Liverpool off... ever.
An absolutely unbelievable game against unbelievable opposition.
Before I go into a round up I would just like pay my respects to the 96 Liverpool fans who tragically lost their lives in the Hillsborough disaster. Tomorrow marks the 27th anniversary of the disaster but justice is finally coming. Both fans also impeccably observed a minute's silence before the game. #JFT96
No German side has beat Liverpool at Anfield in 17 attempts and Borussia Dortmund sure as hell weren't going to get past us easily on an electric Thursday evening in Liverpool. With fans lining the streets hours before kick off, it was destined to be a special game but things got off to a terrible start for the Reds.
Scoring two goals in just nine minutes Dortmund had absolutely crushed Liverpool from the off. The first goal from Mkhitaryan was unfortunate as Mignolet did so well to save the initial effort from Aubameyang but he soon followed up with a lovely finish to secure Dortmund's second.
The Reds were dumbfounded. I fully expected Dortmund to score and cancel out that important away goal but I never expected it to be in such brutal fashion. For me, it was evident Liverpool were being broken down far too easily, I was quite surprised not to see Joe Allen starting in midfield to offer that extra bit of protection and some additional support for Divock Origi who could cause hassle with the correct service. However, Klopp had gone for a more attacking line up and to be fair we did get stuck in even after going two down.
The pressure though led to no goals and sure enough the first half whistle was blown. Liverpool needed three goals and while they looked like scoring it just wasn't quite happening for manager Jurgen Klopp.
Expecting a change for the second half Kopites would have to wait a while longer as the manager decided to wait and see whether his side could take his half time motivational speech and convert it into some goalscoring damage. They did, via that man Divock Origi. It was a wonderful finish from the Belgian who picked up the ball from Emre Can and remained confident faced with the Dortmund keeper.
It was only a goal though right? The neutrals would still have you believe this was an impossible task? A mountain to climb? Wrong. The goal was just what Liverpool needed, it boosted the fans and it boosted the team, at 2-0 down the pretty decent performance was leading to nothing because the confidence wasn't there, at 2-1 you start fancying your chances at least you would do if Dortmund didn't spoil the party just nine minutes later.
There's no denying the pass from Mats Hummels and the goal from Reus were glorious, true Dortmund class but it was bloody frustrating to watch! After all that effort to find just a goal, just a glimmer of hope, Liverpool were back to square one. As a hardened Kopite though, that thought it always in the back of your mind, "remember Istanbul" ... "remember Olympiakos" ... "remember Alaves". You never actually believe you're going to do it, of course you don't, but you KNOW it's possible.
So, back to square one it is.
Klopp now knew he had to make a change and at 62 minutes a double substitution that I'd been craving since half time occurred. Joe Allen and Daniel Sturridge entered the fray. Just four minutes later it was Philippe Coutinho's turn to send Anfield wild.
A typical strike from the Brazilian taken with pure prowess from outside the box flew beautifully into the right of goal. 3-2, game on.
Now that glimmer had evolved into hope, like real hope, like hang on, we could actually bloody do this. I was all over the shop at this point, I can't sit still, my hands are in my mouth, on my head, tapping the table I just don't know what to do with myself, it's bloody horrible.
A whole ten minutes ticked by which is a long soddin' time in a European tie you're losing. But then, like a man possessed, Mamadou Sakho managed to dink home a header after a convenient deflection. I've not hidden the fact that I'm not utterly convinced with Sakho but I cannot dispute his passion, what an absolute hero and a real team player. It was immense! Here we were at 3-3 just needing one goal, one goal from anywhere to finally silence the black and yellow beast.
Four minutes were shown on extra time. Could we do it? Was it too late? Was it heck.
It's never too late and Dejan Lovren is a man who knows that. Just minutes earlier he'd absolutely spooned an angled volley high and wide over the bar, little did we know he'd get his chance to play the legend. 90+1 and James Milner after a series of diabolical low corners has picked up the ball from Daniel Sturridge and made it to the byline in the box, whipping the ball perfectly across goal there was Dejan Lovren. Rising like a Croatian salmon desperate to convince his national team coach that he should in fact take him to the Euros... It was like slow motion. Rising and rising eventually he smashed home the header sending the Kop End into an absolute frenzy.
Unbelievable scenes, just unbelievable. I'm still not quite over it all, my throat hurts, I've still got the shakes and I still can't believe that goals from Mamadou Sakho and Dejan Lovren are the main reasons we've knocked Dortmund out of the Europa League and find ourselves in the semi-final. There are no words. Just superb!
Liverpool in Europe: utterly iconic.
An absolutely unbelievable game against unbelievable opposition.
 |
| Image via: mirror.co.uk |
No German side has beat Liverpool at Anfield in 17 attempts and Borussia Dortmund sure as hell weren't going to get past us easily on an electric Thursday evening in Liverpool. With fans lining the streets hours before kick off, it was destined to be a special game but things got off to a terrible start for the Reds.
Scoring two goals in just nine minutes Dortmund had absolutely crushed Liverpool from the off. The first goal from Mkhitaryan was unfortunate as Mignolet did so well to save the initial effort from Aubameyang but he soon followed up with a lovely finish to secure Dortmund's second.
The Reds were dumbfounded. I fully expected Dortmund to score and cancel out that important away goal but I never expected it to be in such brutal fashion. For me, it was evident Liverpool were being broken down far too easily, I was quite surprised not to see Joe Allen starting in midfield to offer that extra bit of protection and some additional support for Divock Origi who could cause hassle with the correct service. However, Klopp had gone for a more attacking line up and to be fair we did get stuck in even after going two down.
The pressure though led to no goals and sure enough the first half whistle was blown. Liverpool needed three goals and while they looked like scoring it just wasn't quite happening for manager Jurgen Klopp.
 |
| Image via: theguardian.com |
It was only a goal though right? The neutrals would still have you believe this was an impossible task? A mountain to climb? Wrong. The goal was just what Liverpool needed, it boosted the fans and it boosted the team, at 2-0 down the pretty decent performance was leading to nothing because the confidence wasn't there, at 2-1 you start fancying your chances at least you would do if Dortmund didn't spoil the party just nine minutes later.
There's no denying the pass from Mats Hummels and the goal from Reus were glorious, true Dortmund class but it was bloody frustrating to watch! After all that effort to find just a goal, just a glimmer of hope, Liverpool were back to square one. As a hardened Kopite though, that thought it always in the back of your mind, "remember Istanbul" ... "remember Olympiakos" ... "remember Alaves". You never actually believe you're going to do it, of course you don't, but you KNOW it's possible.
So, back to square one it is.
Klopp now knew he had to make a change and at 62 minutes a double substitution that I'd been craving since half time occurred. Joe Allen and Daniel Sturridge entered the fray. Just four minutes later it was Philippe Coutinho's turn to send Anfield wild.
A typical strike from the Brazilian taken with pure prowess from outside the box flew beautifully into the right of goal. 3-2, game on.
Now that glimmer had evolved into hope, like real hope, like hang on, we could actually bloody do this. I was all over the shop at this point, I can't sit still, my hands are in my mouth, on my head, tapping the table I just don't know what to do with myself, it's bloody horrible.
A whole ten minutes ticked by which is a long soddin' time in a European tie you're losing. But then, like a man possessed, Mamadou Sakho managed to dink home a header after a convenient deflection. I've not hidden the fact that I'm not utterly convinced with Sakho but I cannot dispute his passion, what an absolute hero and a real team player. It was immense! Here we were at 3-3 just needing one goal, one goal from anywhere to finally silence the black and yellow beast.
Four minutes were shown on extra time. Could we do it? Was it too late? Was it heck.
 |
| Image via theguardian.com |
Unbelievable scenes, just unbelievable. I'm still not quite over it all, my throat hurts, I've still got the shakes and I still can't believe that goals from Mamadou Sakho and Dejan Lovren are the main reasons we've knocked Dortmund out of the Europa League and find ourselves in the semi-final. There are no words. Just superb!
Liverpool in Europe: utterly iconic.