JURGEN Klopp called it qualifying for a final. And it was clear what he meant. Since then Liverpool have actually qualified for a final. Against all the odds and in the most dramatic of circumstances.
But before attention can truly turn to the Champions League crescendo in Madrid in June, a final-day showdown awaits on Sunday.
The Reds are still hoping and dreaming of some kind of random event at Brighton and Hove Albion that could – someway, somehow – result in an opportunity to edge past the immovable object of Manchester City at the top of the Premier League.
There will be Premier League trophies at Anfield and at Brighton, in readiness for either City or Liverpool becoming champions.
One trophy will remain with the champions for the year in which they hold it, while the other will be used for promotional events.
[@SkySportsNews] pic.twitter.com/oRH0kyLbWQ
— City Xtra (@City_Xtra) May 8, 2019
Providing they also beat Wolverhampton Wanderers at Anfield of course.
If it’s not to be, it’s not to be – and a period of heartache and misery will inevitably follow, especially if the final margin is as fine as a single point. A sixth European Cup would certainly take the edge off.
But if it is to be second rather than first, nearly and what could have been instead of that final relief at a long wait for the title over, some will look back, seeking to pinpoint where it all went ‘wrong’.
They shouldn’t. They shouldn’t because that will do a Herculean effort a disservice. If Liverpool don’t do it, they deserve all the credit in the world for running this City side so close.
To put things in perspective, consider how football life was in May 2018. The lay of the land was that Pep Guardiola’s side had broken 11 records on their way to the Premier League title.
97 Points, 1 loss this whole season. If we do come out of this season with no trophy it’ll obviously be disappointing but I’ll still be buzzing, this team is one of the best I’ve ever seen and I’m proud to be a Liverpool fan. Up the Reds ❤️❤️ pic.twitter.com/RCWBMETWz0
— emillie marshfield (@emillie_10) May 6, 2019
Pundits, players and fans alike were gushing over what many perceived to be the best Premier League side ever. Liverpool finished fourth, 25 points adrift, and lost the Champions League final to Real Madrid.
Many predicted the psychological effect of that defeat would be damaging on the Liverpool campaign that followed. They were patently wrong. So very wrong.
Those records for Manchester City last season included most points; City becoming the first English side to clock up 100; most goals, they scored 106; biggest title-winning margin, they won it by 19 points, and most wins – they won 32 of the 38 matches they contested in the Premier League.
Take Liverpool out of the picture this season and the nearest side to City right now is Chelsea, 24 points off the pace. Tottenham Hotspur are a further point back, Arsenal are 28 points adrift in fifth and Manchester United are 29 off the summit.
The Reds, while also reaching the final of the European Cup again, are the only side in the league that has made it a competition until the very end – and that's a testament to the powers of the manager, and of his players, to keep going and keep fighting despite the odds.
Talk of bottle, pressure and choking prevails on the periphery – yet it couldn’t be further from the reality, as the Barca blitz clearly demonstrated.
"With Anfield behind, trust me, we can do it."
Dejan Lovren gives insight into Klopp's rousing pre-match speech. pic.twitter.com/T0IXeIrBBE
— Liverpool FC (@LFC) May 8, 2019
A string of clubs that aspire to this dizzy level of performance long ago fell by the wayside. And all their fans have to look forward to now is next season. Liverpool are still there, and whoever finishes second on Sunday will have the most points of any runner-up in the Premier League era.
That Liverpool have lifted themselves to these heights over and over from August through to May tells us that so much is right behind the scenes at the club. In any sport, or any walk of life, if seemingly formidable opposition stands in the way it’s easy to lose focus, let the stress in, see the pictures of failure and give up.
This resilient group have kept on knuckling down, kept on digging in, and they go to the very last game of the season with a chance, however slim. Almost as slim, maybe, as overturning a 3-0 deficit to Barcelona.
Guardiola, a manager with 11 years experience of top-level battles, says he rates this Liverpool side among the top two rivals he has ever faced. And when you consider it is a side that has amassed more points than 13-time winners Manchester United ever have in a 38-game Premier League season, you can see why.
Emotions will run wild on the final day, it’s what football does to so many of us. But when the dust has settled, whether a bright shiny pot is wrapped in red ribbons or blue, the sane assessment is that two great sides have slugged it out all the way and one has pipped the other. Just. Only just. By the most minute of margins.
Pep thinks this Liverpool team is one of the best two sides he's ever faced. pic.twitter.com/snDwp7w1HQ
— ESPN FC (@ESPNFC) May 6, 2019
Steve Peters, the psychiatrist who has worked in with a string of elite sportsmen and women, said when involved at Liverpool during the Brendan Rodgers era: “If you start going into the realm of the uncontrollable with a pre-defined goal then you are going to start to stress.
“So I would be guiding Liverpool to say, 'By all means let's commit to the dream and make it happen. But let's not make it a goal and put pressure on ourselves to live up to something that is actually not in our control.'
"That, to me, is very critical in life. The goals become: 'Let's do the best we can, be prepared as individuals, be prepared as a team, make sure we get everything right.' These are the goals because you can control these. At the end of the day you can't do better than your best."
Some didn’t like those words back then. Yet Peters had it right. Winning football is a process. Research, prepare, train, plan and execute – reach a place where it becomes second nature; where understandings are in place, where situations are experienced and overcome.
The Reds are now a team that knows what it takes to – by common consensus – give one of, if not the, best team in the Premier League a real run for its money. It can rack up 90-odd points. It can beat all energy or low block. It can win in different types of ways. And it can challenge again next season whatever happens this.
"It's destiny. If we'll be champions we'll be champions but these boys deliver and deliver and deliver. How can you feel pressure when you do your best? So far 94 points? Come on. It's incredible," says Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp after their 2-3 win against Newcastle #NEWLIV pic.twitter.com/OiqeHa4qW2
— PakPassion Sport (@PakPassionSport) May 5, 2019
The machine is working just fine. And it’s not about to be broken up.
Too often, at Liverpool, in England, and in football generally, there has been a tendency to panic at the first hint of trouble. Sections of the media pounce on any visible crack. The Jurgen Klopp think pieces were in the post the moment Vincent Kompany inexplicably did what he did on Monday night.
Yet this isn’t a club cracking. Quite the opposite. Ask Lionel Messi or Luis Suarez.
“If we'll be champions we'll be champions but these boys deliver and deliver and deliver. How can you feel pressure when you do your best? So far 94 points? Come on. It's incredible."
It’s hard to argue with those words from Klopp. So don’t. Liverpool deserve praise and plaudits from outside and in – whatever happens on the final day, and whatever happens in Madrid in June.
