On Tuesday night, Liverpool triumphed 2-0 in the first leg
of their quarter-final match against Porto. The fixture, a repeat of last year’s
round of sixteen tie, was considered by many to be a formality – no team
reaches the last eight in Europe’s elite competition by accident, however, and
the Portuguese champions threatened on multiple occasions. A mixture of
profligacy on the part of Marega and some important saves by Alisson kept
Liverpool’s clean sheet intact, but wasted chances at the other end mean that
Klopp’s men cannot go into the second leg with progression as assured as it was
last season. Nonetheless, they have put themselves in a strong position to make
it to the semi-final; this is a notable accomplishment in any campaign, but to
do so while sustaining a challenge for the league title shows just how far this
team has come in a short space of time.
The Porto faithful had a haunted look about them when
Liverpool took the lead after just five minutes. They had been here before –
superior opposition turning up with both skill and luck on their side is a
deadly cocktail, one that resulted in a 5-0 humiliation in their own back yard
just fourteen months ago. When Keita’s positive drive forward was not tracked
and his subsequent shot evaded Casillas courtesy of a huge deflection, there
was a feeling that it might be a similarly long night. The players in red
appeared to be gripped by a similar vision – at any rate, the waves of pressure
remained relentless after going in front. This made for an entertaining contest, but it
exhibited the sort of naivety that is more closely associated with the Liverpool
of a year ago. It was the kind of performance that can produce 5-0 wins, but is
just as capable of resulting in the squandering of comfortable leads. The
second leg of the Roma tie in the semi-final stage of this competition last
season come to mind. On this occasion, however, the advantage did grow rather
than evaporate: Porto had created and wasted a number of reasonable
opportunities, but a glorious sweeping move up the pitch was finished off by
Roberto Firmino to double the home side’s lead.
Alexander-Arnold chalked up the assist, but it was Jordan
Henderson who truly made the goal. His delightful ball to the full-back gave
the youngster the freedom of Anfield in which to pick out Firmino, who was left
with the simplest task of the lot. The only surprise was that the Brazilian
deigned to look at the ball when steering it in from a matter of yards.
Liverpool’s captain has been enjoying himself of late in a more advanced
position: Klopp’s growing faith in Fabinho as the sole man in a deeper role has
allowed Henderson to move into more natural territory, and Liverpool are
reaping the rewards in attack. The ease with which Porto created chances of their
own might tempt Klopp into shackling his number fourteen with defensive duties
once more when it comes to the Chelsea game at the weekend, but Henderson will
feel that he has proved that he can be the answer to Liverpool’s problem of lack
of creativity from the midfield.
He was not the only one making his case.
Naby Keita has been steadily growing in influence after a
very stuttering start to his Anfield career. The season has been littered with
the odd promising cameo, but there has often been a sense that he is playing
within himself. The vital equaliser against Southampton, and the evident
delight and relief it caused him, looked as though it might prove to be a
turning point – even this goal, though, a header at the back post, was not
exactly a realisation of the dynamic, all-action Keita that Liverpool fans had
been promised. That player arrived against Porto. Per @DanKennett, the Guinean
made six tackles, ten recoveries, six dribbles and two key passes – this is before
his goal is even mentioned. This array of qualities, the sense that he is doing
the job of two men, is what was so eagerly anticipated when Liverpool secured
his signature; the recapturing of such form just as Jurgen Klopp’s side reaches
the business end of its push for two of the biggest trophies in the sport could
not be more well-timed.
Let’s consider that for a moment. It’s April, and the
Premier League and Champions League are still very much up for grabs. This is a
remarkable feat: on one level it is exactly where Liverpool Football Club
belongs, but equally it is essentially unchartered territory in the context of
the past two decades. Fans have generally had to content themselves with a push
for one or the other, and often neither, and yet some supporters still have the
temerity to bemoan the fact that the margin of victory was not so large as to
allow players to be rested in the second leg. Of a Champions League last eight
clash. That this team is now at the point where a 2-0 triumph in the business
end of the European Cup is not a universal source of euphoria, and can even
draw criticism, demonstrates the astonishing progress that has been made under
Jurgen Klopp. For what it is worth, Liverpool fans should know more than most
how fickle fortunes can be in football – there are real reasons to hope that
this period of challenging will blossom into a genuine era of great success,
but in the mean-time everyone should be consciously striving to enjoy the
journey. Nonetheless, the fact that the bar has been so substantially raised is
as clear an indication as any that this is a team back amongst the European
elite. There is true quality from front to back: enough to dispatch of the
likes of Bayern Munich, and to pile pressure on a City side that broke records
for fun last season. Henderson’s defiant celebration against Southampton
delivered a message to everyone doubting him as an individual, but also to
those who doubt the team: it is time to put some respect on the name.
Of course, nothing is won yet, and with opposition of such
elite calibre there are no guarantees that the campaign will end with
silverware on either front. However, the belief within the team is tangible;
not only tangible, but justified. It is hard to deny that the team is one of
the best in Europe at the moment - Liverpool will not fear a potential semi-final
meeting with Barcelona in the Champions League. On the domestic front, Klopp
has nearly steered his side through the toughest spell of the season unscathed –
a succession of potentially tricky fixtures while City’s run was favourable
could have spelled the end for the title race, but through talent and tenacity
Liverpool have relentlessly kept up the pressure. Victory over Chelsea at the
weekend in the final against a side from the top six this season would be a
massive psychological triumph ahead of Manchester City’s games against Tottenham
and Manchester United in the space of a week, but thanks to the efforts of the
challengers up to this point the match against Sarri’s men is not make or break
in this regard. Whatever happens, the overwhelming feeling towards this team amongst
fans must be pride: every last one of the supporters is dreaming of clearing
the final hurdle that has proved a stumbling block since 1
990, but even if it
proves too high once more there can be no denying that every single member of
the team has given absolutely everything they have. There is no more that can
be asked.
- Follow me on Twitter @JamesMartin013
See my latest for Colossus Bets here: https://blog.colossusbets.com/author/james-martin/
