The ever-more familiar chorus reverberated from the away end
at The Etihad after the final whistle: Allez, Allez, Allez. It was a victory
cry – Liverpool had pulled off a remarkable feat, not only winning the tie
against Manchester City but triumphing in both legs. The song sings of historic
successes, from Paris down to Turkey; progression to the semi-final of this
year’s competition allows fans to begin to believe in earnest that Kyiv can be
added to that list.
It was the kind of game that lays bare the raw emotion of
football. The first half was a true ordeal – the early goal was essentially a
playing-out of the worst nightmares of the fans, and the persistent barrage
that followed induced horrific amounts of stress. It was almost unwatchable,
and yet no pair of Liverpool eyes could be torn away from the action. It was a
minor miracle that half-time was reached with the score only 1-0. The defence
must take some credit – admittedly they should never have dropped so deep, but
City effectively forced them to do so, and having retreated they defended like
heroes. Lovren, much-maligned in his career at the club, was prepared to throw
his body on the line time and time again. His desperate leap, just flicking the
ball with the slightest of touches, may well have been responsible for
diverting Bernardo Silva’s shot onto the woodwork. Van Dijk rallied
magnificently after being at fault for the opener, marshalling the back line
and clearing multiple aerial balls to safety. Robertson rode his luck against
Sterling, and was fortunate not to concede a penalty, but ultimately managed to
keep him fairly contained. Alexander-Arnold seemed to be walking a tightrope
after a concerningly early yellow card up against Sane, but proceeded to put in
yet another unbelievably mature display to keep the German largely under wraps.
It is only fair to say that Sane should have added City’s second – the ball
fell to him after a Karius punch ricocheted off Milner, and the linesman’s flag
should not have gone up. However, nobody wins a major trophy without getting a
slice of fortune along the way. This was Liverpool’s, but they knew they would
have to regroup for the second half if they were to make the most of this gift.
Another half in the same vein as the first would simply not
have been sustainable. This is no criticism of Liverpool’s back line, but when
a collection of the world’s best attacking talent crash upon a defence in wave
after wave it cannot be expected to hold out indefinitely. The players knew
this, and Klopp undoubtedly reinforced the point at half time. It had an
effect: the visitors emerged with more purpose, bravely stepping up where in
the first half they would not have done so. This did leave slightly more space
for City, which was occasionally alarming, but the net effect was definitely
positive. Key to this was the relentless Roberto Firmino. He had been one of
the stand-outs in the first half, seemingly the only player capable of showing
the technique and composure to beat the City press before releasing a runner to
temporarily relieve pressure; in the second period he was aided by his
teammates showing more eagerness to step up with him, and the team reaped the
rewards. The Brazilian produced a trademark charge back to within his own half
to retrieve the ball from an advancing Kevin De Bruyne – it was the ensuing
move that sent Liverpool fans everywhere into raptures.
The ball made its way to Gini Wijnaldum, who had begun to
see a little more of it in the second half. He coolly drifted away from his
man, and found Oxlade-Chamberlain. He drove forwards, before producing a lovely
outside-of-the-boot pass to pick out Mohamed Salah. Salah fed Mane, who ran
into a rapidly-closing gap between Laporte and Fernandinho. Between the pair of
them, and the subsequent lunge from Ederson, there was surely a foul on the
winger: roars of outrage undoubtedly emanated from the households of all Liverpool
fans. These turned to guttural screams of delight, or perhaps more accurately
of relief, as Salah picked up the loose ball and produced a sublime chip to
score. There are no words to do justice to the release of tension felt in that
moment – suddenly City needed four more goals, and although it was not over it
was clear that more of the same from Liverpool would be enough to see them into
the semi-final.
In the end, they added to their aggregate lead. City were
rattled, once again showing the intangible benefits of a club with a history of
producing the impossible at the vital moments – they had no European
experiences from which to draw hope, while Liverpool played like men who knew
that they were merely following those who had gone before them by brushing
aside all those standing between them and European glory. It was Otamendi who
made the crucial error: Liverpool’s press reduced him to his former error-prone
self over the two legs, and on this occasion it was Firmino who robbed him. He
then calmly ghosted into a scoring position, before curling it beyond Ederson
and in for the goal he so richly deserved. At this point, the celebrations
could truly begin.
Focus now inevitably turns to the semi-finals. The draw is
made on Friday, and in a shock turnaround will feature Roma. They produced an
astounding comeback of the kind City could not muster – this shows that they
will not make life easy for any potential opponents, but they surely have to be
the preferred team to come up against. That said, Liverpool will not be
overawed by any opponent: they did a job on one of Europe’s best, triumphing
5-1 on aggregate. Roared on by fans in delirium at the prospect of more
European glory, absolutely anything is possible for this great group of
players. Allez, Allez, Allez.
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