Liverpool’s road to the Champions League final

It is up to Liverpool to put an end to Real Madrid's domination in the Champions League

Syed Murtaza Gheblezadeh

May 25, 2018

You’ll Never Walk Alone!

Is the anthem that all Liverpool Fans will be singing on 26th May, 2018 at Olympiyskiy Stadium, Kiev.

11 years after their last Final against AC Milan, Liverpool FC have reached the Final of the Champions League. A club that takes pride in its successes in Europe over the years, they have not been featuring in the tournament for the most part of this decade, but with the comeback Kings of Europe, you can never say Never!

Liverpool´s German manager Jurgen Klopp (R) celebrates victory with Liverpool´s English captain Jordan Henderson after the Champions League qualifier, second leg match between Liverpool and Hoffenheim at Anfield stadium in Liverpool on August 23, 2017. Photo: AFP

Liverpool FC’s road to the Finale started off with their playoff against Hoffenheim earning them a place in the Group stages where they had to battle it out with Spartak Moscow, Maribor and their recent bogey team in Europe Sevilla FC, though Liverpool Fans loved the moment Sevilla FC eliminated Manchester United from the competition. Advancing to the round of 16, Liverpool brushed aside a Porto side that was in excellent form but were no match for Klopp’s well oiled Red Machine.

Liverpool´s Egyptian midfielder Mohamed Salah celebrates scoring his team´s first goal during the UEFA Champions League second leg quarter-final football match between Manchester City and Liverpool, at the Etihad Stadium in Manchester, north-west England on April 10, 2018. Photo: AFP

Liverpool reaching the Quarter Finals of the tournament they love so much for the first time in a decade was made even more enticing when they drew Pep Guardiola’s runaway leaders of the premier league Manchester City. The match was build up to be a classic due to the two teams’ matches in the current premier league season. Manchester City had destroyed Jürgen Klopp’s Liverpool earlier in the season only for them to gain salvation in their win at Anfield, thus putting a stop to Manchester City’s bid to finish the season unbeaten. The first leg was at Anfield and Liverpool annihilated Manchester City winning 3-0 and 2-1 at the Etihad Stadium, what a performance by a team so often labelled as misleading due to their defensive frailties, but what difference does a GBP 75mln top defender make is evident in this current Liverpool team.

Mo Salah, Roberto Firmino and Sadio Mane are the ones on the score sheet but Virgil Van Dijk has been the leader at the back. The return leg also put light on the fact that Jordan Henderson might not be as good a player as Steven Gerrard but surely he has learned from a true legend and is the Leader on the pitch for this Liverpool team.

Liverpool´s Dutch defender Virgil van Dijk (L) and Liverpool´s Croatian defender Dejan Lovren reacts at the final whistle during the UEFA Champions League semi-final second leg football match between AS Roma and Liverpool at the Olympic Stadium in Rome on May 2, 2018. Photo: AFP

When the draws were out and Liverpool drew Roma instead of Real Madrid and Bayern Munich in the Semi-Finals of the Uefa Champions League the fans were expected to be jubilant but this was no ordinary Roma side. Roma had not conceded at home and had knocked out one of the favourites Barcelona FC in the Quarter Finals. This semi-final was built up to be a clash between two teams dipped in history, culture and love for football. Roma were looking for revenge against Liverpool FC for their loss in the 1984 European Cup Final at the Stadio Olympico. However, revenge was to wait because Liverpool’s fabulous attacking trio tore apart the Roma side taking a 5-0 lead, nevertheless, as we had learned earlier in the season never to say never till the final whistle, Roma scored 2 goals to make the final score 5-2, now the teams were to head to Stadio Olympico where Roma had required a similar scoreline of 3-0 to knock out Barcelona. The 2 away goals had caused a frenzy and brought the tie back to life. The return leg was as explosive as the first; because not only did Liverpool score 2 away goals to finish all Roma hopes but Roma scored 2 late goals to take make it 4-2 for the night and 7-6 for the tie.

I have to say, that to witness such a semi-final is an extremely rare commodity, truly a classic!

This combination of pictures created on May 23, 2018 shows Liverpool´s Egyptian midfielder Mohamed Salah on April 21, 2018 during an English Premier League football match in West Bromwich, and Real Madrid´s Portuguese forward Cristiano Ronaldo (bottom) during a Spanish league football match in Madrid on February 10, 2018. Real Madrid CF and Liverpool FC will play the UEFA Champions League final football match in Kiev on May 26, 2018. Photo: AFP

The stage is set for the Final in Kiev, Real Madrid vs Liverpool, two giants of this competition. The last time Liverpool faced Real Madrid in the Champions League, Brendon Rodgers made the decision of not playing Steven Gerrard for such a big European tie which led to the acceptance that Captain Fantastic will be leaving at the end of the year.

This is Real Madrid’s third Final in a row, mind you, they have won the previous two, so it’s up to Liverpool to see if this domination of Europe’s elite competition can be put to an end to.

If any team can then its LIVERPOOL FC!

Murtaza is a banker by profession and a diehard Liverpool fan.

Note: The views expressed in the article are those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Geo News or the Jang Group.