The camera cuts to a barbers off Dale Street in Liverpool city centre where the talk is of the game ahead and whether Liverpool can somehow pull off another European miracle. He said they'll try to mount a comeback." But they don't look too worried. The Barca press staff talk about the news Salah and Firmino will be both be unavailable through injury for the second leg which Klopp has confirmed in his media briefing a couple of hours earlier, "From Klopp, there's not much else. "We would have barbecues and all coordinate to go to training at the same time, because if not, "Why did that one arrive an hour before, why the other?" "Next door was Skrtel, Maxi Rodriguez lived in the other, Pepe Reina in another and Fabio Aurelio was there. "Where I lived, two blocks away was John Lennon's house, which is also a walk", he says. We see them travelling through the narrow streets surrounding Anfield and Suarez reminisces on the three and a half years he spent in the city, having already admitted his family insisted on returning to Liverpool with him as soon as the semi-final draw paired his current and former clubs. Next we're at the airport the day before the game as Barcelona set off for Liverpool and, after arriving at John Lennon airport, attention turns to the pre match press conference attended by coach Ernesto Valverde and Luis Suarez who is also returning to Liverpool to play in a competitive game for the first time since his own move from Anfield to the Nou Camp in 2014. You can tell from the expression on the Brazilian's face these are not the normal platitudes footballers sometimes employ. Without doubt it's a tough match for us." "It's like it's a twelfth man on the pitch. We've broken down the best bits below for you to enjoy. Yet they are still powerless to do anything about it. Towards the end of 2019, Rakuten released an eight-part documentary about Barcelona's 2018/19 season called Matchday: Inside FC Barcelona, the penultimate episode of which focuses on that epic second leg at Anfield.Ī trailer released at the time showed the horrified reactions of pop star Shakira - wife of Barcelona defender Gerard Pique - as the tide turned in the Reds' favour but closer examination of the episode reveals a fascinating insight into one of the greatest nights in Liverpool's history and the reverence Barca have - even in advance of the game - of the power of Anfield. READ MORE: 'Rafa clearly did not read the Premier League rules' - Alex Ferguson's fury over Liverpool transfer bidįor the visitors from Catalonia, this was an opportunity to exorcise the ghosts of the previous season's surrender in Rome when they had lost a three-goal home first leg lead and crashed out in the quarter-finals.īarcelona' whole season had been predicated on winning the Champions League back after rivals Real Madrid's three successive wins following their last triumph in 2015, captain Lionel Messi's speech to his players at the start of the season about how it must be their primary focus being widely reported and channelled through much of their campaign.Īs we know, Liverpool produced the most astonishing comeback of even Anfield's exalted history and went on to lift the trophy with victory over Tottenham in Madrid, European Cup number six being the springboard for a remarkable Premier League campaign which ended in a first league title in 30 years. READ MORE: ‘Worst player in best team in the world’ - from sleeping in a shed to Liverpool icon and inventor of Adidas Predator READ MORE: Zeljko Buvac comeback and how Jurgen Klopp survived 'break up' with Liverpool's 'brain' Vincent Kompany's thunderbolt for Manchester City against Leicester had felt like the final hammer blow to the Reds' fading hopes in a never-before-seen slugfest of a Premier League title race, meaning a likely 97 point tally would almost certainly not be enough to end that 29-year wait for a 19th league championship.Īnd the previous week's scarcely-believable three goal defeat, despite outplaying Barcelona for long stages of the Camp Nou first leg, had surely meant a season of remarkable quality and consistency was now almost certain to end in more empty-handed heartbreak.
It was a night nobody involved in will ever be able to forget.įor Liverpool, the Champions League semi final second leg against Barcelona was the tipping point when three-and-a-half years of promise under Jurgen Klopp crystallised into glorious reality.Ģ4 hours earlier, that progress had seemed suddenly perched on a precipice.