Liverpool produced one of the most stunning comebacks in Champions League history to beat Barcelona 4-0 and progress to the final for the second consecutive year on Tuesday as stand-in striker Divock Origi and substitute Georginio Wijnaldum both scored twice.
Liverpool went into the match at Anfield trailing 3-0 fromthe first leg and deprived of injured star attacking duo Mohamed Salah andRoberto Firmino.
However, Origi — making a rare start — and substituteWijnaldum both netted twice as Barca for the second season in successionsurrendered a three-goal first-leg lead to exit the Champions League.
“With any other team I wouldn’t think it was possible. Theyare really mentality giants,” Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp said. “It isunbelievable the season we had, the games we had, the injuries we had now.
“Going out there and putting in a performance like this onthe pitch is unbelievable. I am really proud to be the manager of this team.
“What they did tonight was really special. I will rememberit forever.”
Liverpool will face either Dutch side Ajax or Premier Leaguerivals Tottenham in the final on June 1 in Madrid and will likely be favouritesto be crowned European champions for the sixth time.
The Reds’ stunning victory brought back memories of whenthey last lifted the trophy in 2005 when they overturned a 3-0 half-timedeficit in the final against AC Milan in Istanbul.
However, Klopp underlined the importance of his side writingtheir own history even if their bid for a first Premier League title for 29years falls short behind Manchester City this weekend.
“We believed in this chance, we didn’t compare it withIstanbul or whatever,” added Klopp. “We want to create our own history. We neednew chapters obviously and the boys did it.”
Despite the despondency of losing Salah and Firmino, Klopp’smen never lost faith and were accompanied by a typically raucous Anfieldatmosphere for a European night.
Origi would almost certainly not have started had Salah andFirmino been fit.
But the 24-year-old Belgian has made a habit of scoringimportant goals in Liverpool’s title challenge and had his first ever in theChampions League on seven minutes on the rebound after Marc-Andre ter Stegenhad denied Jordan Henderson’s initial effort.
“We know this club is the mix of atmosphere, emotion, desireand football quality. You cut off one and it doesn’t work, we know that,” Kloppsaid.
“This club has a big heart. The heart was pounding likecrazy, you could hear it and feel it all over the world. I am so happy we couldgive the people this experience.”
Barcelona boss Ernesto Valverdewas left to face up to thesecond major European embarrassment of his time in charge.
The Spanish champions blew a 4-1 first-leg lead to bow outat the quarter-finals against Roma last year.
“The most hurtful thing is to repeat it,” said Valverde, whomay struggle to hold on to his job despite guiding Barca to two La Liga titles.
“When you have a collapse of this nature we will have a fewhorrible days ahead.”
His side were left to rue not taking their chances in thefirst half after weathering Liverpool’s early burst.
Lionel Messi had seemingly turned the tie in the Catalans’favour late in the first leg with a brilliant free-kick and his first effortwas tipped over by Alisson Becker before the Brazilian denied his internationalteammate Philippe Coutinho.
Liverpool were seemingly dealt another injury blow as AndyRobertson was withdrawn at half-time, but he made way for Dutch internationalWijnaldum with James Milner moving to left-back.
Wijnaldum’s impact was massive. He was picked out by TrentAlexander-Arnold’s low cross and drilled under Ter Stegen. And from Liverpool’snext attack, Xherdan Shaqiri picked out Wijnaldum to head home at the Kop end.
“Once again we showed that everything is possible infootball,” said Wijnaldum.
“I was really angry at the manager that he put me on thebench but I had to do something to help the team when I came on.”
Valverde tried to restore some order as Coutinho, who cost£142 million ($186 million) when moving from Liverpool to Barcelona in January2018, was replaced for the second time in the tie.
The change briefly had an impact, but Barca were inexplicably caught cold from a quick Alexander-Arnold corner 11 minutes from time that picked out Origi completely unmarked to fire high past Ter Stegen. “A genius moment,” Klopp of Alexander-Arnold’s quick thinking. “I saw the ball flying in the net and had no idea who took the corner and who scored the goal.”
Agencies