Europa League quarterfinals: Liverpool 4-3 Dortmund
What a game and what a performance Liverpool delivered! The same kind of comeback they produced back in the 2005 Champions League Final against AC Milan.. Do you remember it? They were down 3-0 at halftime and the rest is part of history… Well this game has seen another historic comeback for Liverpool. The Reds had the edge over Dortmund after coming back from Germany with a draw 1-1. The away goal was sending them to the next round when the game begins.. But Dortmund did not see the same and scored two goals in the early minutes of the game to lead 2-0 up to the break. At this precise moment you would thought the game was over and according to 888sport betting odds Liverpool has no chance to win.
Liverpool initiated a comeback and scored right after the start of the second half 2-1… but they would still need 2 more goals. And Reus believed he definitely qualified Dortmund with the third goal, 3-1. But the magic began. There are those nights where you are lifted by some kind of surreal force and Liverpool had that one. They not only tied the game with more than 10 minutes to go at 3-3 but to sign off one of the best comebacks of football history with a goal in extra-time to give the victory 4-3! What a night at Anfield.
Ex Dortmund coach who knows is in charge of Liverpool – coach Klopp reacts on a magical night:
“I saw the game, I saw all the different moments in the game and I thought from the first minute we were in the game. The problem is that after four minutes, we lost the ball in a not so good moment. The counter-attack of Dortmund is in some moments not to defend anymore, to be honest, and that’s what we saw after four minutes, [and] after nine minutes.
Very often in football life, a game is over [at 2-0] – but not here, not with this Liverpool team and that’s great to be part of. In the first half of the game, we created a lot of chances, we didn’t score and then it was really, really difficult to stay in the game because we are all human beings – we tried everything but nothing really worked.
At half-time, there was a good atmosphere to be honest because I was satisfied with the game – not with the goals, but with the game in general. I told the lads, I was not there but a few Liverpool players who are a little bit older and work now as experts for television, they were 3-0 down at half-time but won a Champions League final. So even when it’s not really likely, it is for sure possible and we should try it.
They did it and made it 2-1. I think even before 2-1, we had a chance and two or three really good moments but didn’t score. Then we scored and then everyone could see something happen in the stadium. You could feel it, you could hear, you could smell it… But then there was a brilliant, brilliant attack situation [from Dortmund]. It was not too good defending from our side, to be honest, but it was brilliant play from Dortmund and 3-1.
I’m a football fan so I saw the game [in 2005] and to be honest at half-time I did not think, ‘Oh it looks like Liverpool will strike back. I only told them that it’s possible, but it’s much more difficult to do it than say it. They showed that they have potential, real potential, and I’m completely happy. Forget the story about ‘these could be heroes’ – give us the time to play the semi-final against probably a really strong [team]. They are all pretty strong so we don’t need to compare this. This, tonight, was brilliant in itself.
“It was an outstanding atmosphere and what I said [was that] we need experiences like this to grow together, that’s how it is. So now we have something like a milestone, or whatever you would call it, and that’s good – that’s really good”.
