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    Sadio sunk Villa with a second half header once again to keep the pressure on City at the top of the table.
     
    The Reds weren't at their best but the 'mentality monsters' found a way to get over the line and responded well after going behind early.
     
    Chris Smith, Julian Richards and TLW Editor Dave Usher look back on a scrappy win for the boys and also preview this weekend's FA Cup final.
     
     
     
  • Jurgen Klopp says the extreme emotions after the game lead managers to say things that perhaps they would not in normal circumstances.
     
    After Man City’s thumping 5-0 victory over Newcastle on Sunday which gave the defending champions a major boost to their title defence after crumbling in the final stages of their Champions League semi final tie against Real Madrid, Pep Guardiola went off on a tangent that can only be described as a bit odd.
     
    “Everyone in this country supports Liverpool, the media and everyone.
     
    ‘Of course because Liverpool has an incredible history behind them, in European competitions. Not in the Premier League, because they’ve won one in 30 years.”
     
    Despite the intense and captivating rivalry of the two clubs in this era, the public dialogue from both Klopp and Guardiola have been nothing but respectful, complementary and very rarely gone off script.
     
    Speaking ahead of the Reds midweek trip to take on Aston Villa (per Metro), Klopp explained what goes through the mind of a manager after a frenetic 90 minutes of action and did not take those comments by Guardiola to heart saying that he too has been at fault in this sense.
     
    “As manager, and I had this experience recently after a game (Tottenham), we are massively influenced by the game, the situation, I said - would I say it again, no - after the game 'they play like they play and are still only fifth'. It was just my feeling in that moment and I couldn't respect Antonio (Conte) more and what he's doing.
     

     
    “But after a game like that… I don’t know exactly what kind of situation Pep was in, but after getting knocked out of the Champions League, that’s already difficult enough to take, but then of course Liverpool made it to the final.”
     
    As for the statement that the “whole country” is behind Liverpool to win the title, Klopp was more than a little sceptical.
     
    "I have no idea if the whole country is supporting us, it's not the feeling I get when we go to places, it's actually the opposite. Maybe he knows more about that than me.
     
    “I live in Liverpool so, yes, here a lot of people want us to win the league, that's true, but even here it's probably only 50 per cent.”
     
    Despite the blow to their title chances on the weekend, in normal Klopp fashion he is maintaining a positive outlook.
     
    “It's clear it is not over because we both have three games to play and my concern is how can we win our games. We have absolutely no hand in how City play their games but before they are played, we should not add on points. 
     
    “We don't do that and I'm pretty sure City is not doing that. [Until] it's not reachable anymore, why should we stop believing?"
     
     
     
     
     
     
  • This doesn’t hurt anywhere near as much as I thought it would. It helps that we’ve got two finals to look forward to of course, but I just can’t get too worked up or disappointed about this particular game or even the implications of it. 
     
    We gave everything we had but came up short because the opponent defended really well. If we don’t win the title it won’t be because of this game and it won’t be because Newcastle put up the most feeble of resistance at the Etihad a day later (did anyone really expect any different?). 
     
    I’m more upset about the other game we had with Spurs than this one. Remember, when a couple of manc officials shafted us with two of the worst decisions seen all season? We deserved to win that game, we didn’t deserve to win this one.
     
    I think we played pretty well though and there was a lot to like about the performance. Against most teams it would have been enough for a comfortable victory, but the problem is that Spurs are really good when they play the better teams. They beat City twice and that wasn’t a fluke. 
     
    This was always going to be the toughest game we had left but because it was a night game at Anfield I thought that would be enough to help us come through it unscathed. It wasn’t, although the crowd played its part and the atmosphere was great. The players responded and the intensity was there but the quality was lacking. Sometimes that happens, even to the best teams. Winning every game just isn’t possible and when it comes to retreats when we look back on the season, this game really shouldn’t even be a consideration.
     
    It was just really fucking tough. Try as we might, we just couldn’t really play through them and when we did they usually had someone making a great block or clearance. Hugo Lloris hardly had a save to make and we didn’t really do enough to test him. We were almost there on a lot of occasions but just didn’t get it right when we got into promising positions.
     
    Klopp went with the team most of us would have picked and I don’t think a lack of energy or freshness was the problem. Trent and Robbo weren’t at their very best and maybe they were a little leggy but I honesty thought the team looked fresh and full of energy. We just came up against a really well organised opponent who know how to pack their box and play on the break.
     
    But for most of the game we were so good with our counter press that Spurs weren’t able to launch the counter attacks they are so dangerous from. The first half especially we restricted it almost entirely. I think they had one break which ended with them hitting the post, but apart from that we smothered them whenever they tried to break.
     
    The problem was we found it difficult to create anything clear ourselves. There were lots of nearly moments and Van Dijk headed against the bar from a corner, but the only time Lloris was really made to work was when his own player mis-directed a header and he had to scramble across his line to claw the ball off the head of Salah.
     
    The second half was slightly different and Spurs were able to get out more and hurt us. They did it really well when they were able to and their goal was well worked. Shite from us like, but well worked from them. I’m not sure what had happened prior to it but I’m assuming we must have had to defend a corner as Trent and Robbo were on opposite flanks and that usually only happens when we’ve defended a set piece. 
     
    It played a big part in the goal as we were disjointed and never got proper set in our usual shape. Trent didn’t cover himself in glory in not getting tight to Kane and Robbo then compounded the problem by tracking the run of Son instead of letting him go offside. In doing that he played Sessegnon onside and he crossed for Son to score from close range.
     
    Bad from us, good from them. They had another chance soon after too as we were wobbling. At one point they went the length of the pitch, starting with a short goal kick, and played right through our press and ended up creating a chance. That never happens to us, but this was hard.
     
    Klopp rang the changes and sent on Jota and Tsimikas for Hendo and Robbo. I can see why Kostas was brought on as Robbo has played a lot of footy and he wasn’t at his best. Kostas should start at Villa I reckon.
     
    Hendo going off wasn’t a huge surprise either but it wasn’t a reflection on how he’d played. I thought he was fine, but Klopp wanted to go with the 4-2-4 we saw turn the derby game in our favour. The difference here is it was Jota and not Divock. who came on. More on this later.
     
    The crowd were really cranking it up trying to get the lads going and when Diaz drew us level the noise was spine tingling. The goal was a fluke as his shot was headed towards one corner and was deflected into the opposite corner off the boot of a defender, but it was no more than he deserved for his desire and enthusiasm.
     
    The problem was that none of the other forwards were having any joy as there was hardly any space to operate in. Mo was so tightly marked all day as Spurs were effectively playing with two left backs in Sessegnon and Davies. If he escaped one there was always a second one there. Trent was playing inside and the only time we were able to get around the side was when Hendo made an overlapping run. 
     
    When you play a team who defends like Spurs, the space is down the sides and you’ve got to get around the back to get your crosses in. Instead we were putting crosses in from deep and that’s a waste of time when there are so many big players in the box. Spurs had three centre backs, two pretty tall wing backs and both of their centre midfielders are big strong lads too. We played right into their hands too often. 
     
    In his last 16 games Mo has only scored from open play in one of them (the Mancs at Anfield when he bagged a brace). That’s blown my mind. I honestly wouldn’t have thought that was even possible but the maddest thing about it is that I don’t think he’s playing badly. I can’t remember too many games where I’ve thought “Mo’s been shite here”. He hasn’t always been brilliant but it’s not like he’s noticeably struggling. 
     
    Yet his goal record in the last 16 games is proper shit. It hasn’t really mattered because we’ve been winning every game anyway, but this was one game when we really needed that bit of magic from him. Sadly he couldn’t deliver and Spurs dealt with him quite easily really. Sadio fared no better either, and Jota was poor when he came on.
     
    Diaz was the only one that posed any real threat and it’s genuinely staggering that Origi didn’t get on. I was a bit miffed about it afterwards but the more I’ve thought about it, the more irritated I’ve become and as I write this two days later I’m proper pissed off about it. Why would you not bring Divock on? Why? It’s fucking madness. He was put on this earth for exactly this kind of situation and he’s delivered for us so many times. Instead we got an out of form Jota and Naby fucking Keita.
     
    Nothing against Naby, but what the fuck was that change going to do? Utterly pointless change. Divock is the ultimate ‘break glass in case of emergency’ player. This is what he does, but he can’t do it sat on the fucking bench. That’s my only gripe about this game but it’s a pretty fucking big gripe the more I think about it.
     
    I can even make a case that this is a good point because we could have lost this game. After going a goal down I’d have probably taken a draw at that point because we hadn’t really looked like scoring. Then we get the equaliser and there’s plenty of time left so I’m thinking we’ll pull it out of the fire because that’s what we usually do. But it never really looked like happening and Spurs probably carried a bigger threat. They could have won it late on but Hoijberg headed back across goal instead of going for it himself.
     
    So given the way the game went a draw isn’t bad and if City do come a cropper somewhere then the equaliser from Diaz might prove crucial. Probably not, it’s unlikely City will lose a game and even if they do we’ve blown the goal difference advantage we had by not punishing shite like Everton and Newcastle recently.
     
    Imagine if we lost the title on goal difference. Fucking hell. I’ve been going on about that Leicester game for months, but I tell you something, if we miss out on goal difference that won’t be the game I look at. I’ll go back to Old Trafford. 5-0 up, United down to ten men and half an hour still to play. And we just declared. It pissed me off at the time and it will piss me off even more if it turns out that it all comes down to goal difference.
     
    It probably won’t but it is not beyond the realms of possibility that City lose at Wolves or West Ham. Put it this way, if we had those two away fixtures coming up next, would you be thinking “that’s two definite wins for us” or would you be a bit uneasy about it? I wouldn’t be taking those wins as guaranteed, so why are we not thinking that City might just slip up? They probably won’t, but they absolutely could. This isn’t mission impossible.
     
    The problem is for me is that we could fail to beat Villa this week, and if that happens it won’t matter what City do because it will be all but over anyway. At the start of the season the league was the one I most wanted but if we get revenge on Madrid to bring home number seven I doubt I’ll feel even the slightest bit of disappointment if we can’t catch City. 
     
    I just have this gut feeling that either Wolves or West Ham are going to do something though you know. Part of me hopes they don’t because if they were to lose and we missed out because we didn’t win out or - even worse - because we’ve let our goal difference advantage slip, that would be much harder to take than if City just won every game. We’ll see. 
     
    Star man is Diaz. 
     
     
    Team: Alisson; Alexander-Arnold, Konate, Van Dijk, Robertson (Tsimikas); Fabinho (Keita), Henderson (Jota), Thiago; Salah, Mané, Diaz:
     
     
  • Luis Diaz was on the scoresheet once again but the Reds were held to a frustrating draw by a dogged and dangerous Tottenham side. Is the title now beyond us?
     
    TLW Editor Dave Usher is joined by John Gallagher and Stu Montagu to discuss that as well as other talking points from the game. The lads then preview the midweek trip to Aston Villa and look back on Real Madrid's dramatic win over Man City that set up a clash with Kloppo's boys in Paris later this month.
     
     
     
  • Jurgen Klopp has looked to rally his squad after a 1-1 draw against Tottenham that has put a dent in their title hopes.
     
    The fixture against the North London outfit always looked to be the most difficult in the title run-in and so it proved as Antonio Conte’s team proved a very resolute outfit and took the lead through Son-Heung-Min before the ever-lively Luis Diaz equalised with a deflected strike 16 minutes from time.
     
    As ever, the Reds kept pressing for the winner which would have piled on the pressure on City ahead of their fixture today, but try as they may it wasn’t to be.
     
    It is a remarkable stat of how good Liverpool have had to be to keep pace with City, the dropped points was only the third time they have done so in 16 league games in this calendar year.
     
    Speaking after the encounter (per the Official site), Klopp said that the disappointment was evident within the playing group but emphasised that one point could come in very handy.
     

     
    “It is an important point because we have one point more than before the game, so that's how it is. But we all know the situation. We are now top of the table. If you ask me, my favourite situation, it just stays like this with the same points tally, and City and us, we lose all the rest of the games in the Premier League and it stays like this. 
     
    “That would be great, but we all know it will not happen. So in this moment, we are disappointed. The boys are more disappointed than I am – it might be because of my age, because I saw pretty much everything already in my life.
     
    “But we will go again. There were so many good things tonight in a situation like that. The counter-press we played today, you can record it and sell this stuff, it's unbelievable. 
     
    “I am so proud of that but, in the end, how I said, in the little moments, a little bit better decision-making... it's easy for me to say because I don't run and I didn't run four days ago, but we all know the boys are able to do that and then we could have won. 
     
    ‘But, of course, we know we could've lost as well because they are obviously insane in their counter-attacking. That's what they want to do. I saw a lot of the things we want to do but not the result we wished for."
     
    Klopp knows as much as anyone how important keeping your focus is at this stage of the season, and therefore was not interested in what City do in their next game, more so how his own players put this setback in the back of their minds with Villa quickly on the horizon.
     
    And in usual fashion the manager wanted to put a positive spin on life in general.
     

     
    “Look, I would love to sit here and say, 'Yes, City will drop points.' The only problem is I can't see it. This is the problem. I would wish I would think differently about it, it's just I can't see it. 
     
    “My problem in the moment is not how City smashes Newcastle tomorrow. My problem is that we play on Tuesday against Aston Villa.
     
    “We will try to prepare as good as possible – as we always do – and try to be ready for Aston Villa. Villa Park, oh my God, that will be tough as well, but we will give it a try.
     
    “So the boys are absolutely in the mood they should be now – very disappointed. That's fine. But from tomorrow on, I heard the spring is coming to England, so maybe we can use the weather a little bit for being in a good mood and we will try."
     
     
     
  • Monday May 2:  
     
    Haven’t done of these in a while but I can’t really be going over all of the things I missed because we’d be here forever. The plan was to pick up from today and go from there. However, there’s one thing I needed to cover because it’s pissed me off so much I needed to vent. So I’ll have to go back seven days….
     
    The Blues wrote to PMGOL to demand why they weren’t given a penalty when that Anthony Gordon rat did his regular Tom Daley impression as soon as he got in the box. I mean, what exactly are they expecting for an answer? Surely even they have to know what happened there. First and foremost it wasn’t a foul by Matip, so there is that. Even if it was though (which it wasn’t), it wasn’t an egregious enough error to be writing letters of complaint about. 
     
    It’s a decision that sometimes you might get if the ref just gets it wrong. And if that happened, VAR wouldn’t have overturned it because that’s not how it works on subjective calls. You actually have some pundits mistakenly saying it’s a pen but I’d say based on what I heard there were more saying it wasn’t. So what you have here is one of those “could go either way” type deals.
     
    Everton are the ONLY club in the entire fucking league that would write a letter of complaint over a decision like that. There’s absolutely nobody else that would do that. They’re missing the bigger picture here though. They want to know why the referee didn’t give them the benefit of the doubt on a subjective decision, but the answer to that is fucking easy.
     
    It’s because Gordon and Richarlison spent the entire game trying to con the referee and fool him into giving them decisions they didn’t deserve. So when one came along where he probably wasn’t sure, he no doubt weighted it up in his head like this: “Was that a foul or a dive? It could be a foul but how do I know these cunts aren’t just trying to cheat me yet again?”. And so he waved it away, as most people would because it’s human nature.
     
    PGMOL should reply by simply reciting the story of the boy who cried wolf. Nothing else, just that story and leave it at that. Crying fat, balding, tory twat.
     
    The other thing in play here is that refs have been told to interpret these things differently now and that contact between two players in the box isn’t always a foul because sometimes its the striker who initiates it. The Calvert-Lewin / Lovren one would never be given as a pen now as that’s a classic example of why they’ve changed things. You could also take away 50% of the pens Jamie Vardy has won and 100% of any decisions Shane Long has been given.
     
    We suffered from that new interpretation when the ref wrongly decided that Jota initiated the contact at Spurs, but by and large you see a lot less pens given now for the kind of shit Gordon pulled in the derby, and that’s a good thing. Fuck Lampard and fuck Everton.
     
    Honestly, the fucking balls on these wankers kicking off over that. It’s like a murderer who kills a dozen people and then gets all wound up and outraged when he’s asked about a thirteenth one that he actually didn’t do. "Why are you picking on me? This isn't fair". Except that doesn’t really work because in that analogy Gordon would have actually been fouled for the pen, and he wasn’t.
     
    What else has been happening? Well I've been watching Top Boy on Netflix and I'd highly recommend it. Probably the best way to describe it is like watching Arsenal Fan TV only there's a bit less aggression and fewer threats on Top Boy. Man defo says da ting worth a watch though, fam.
     
    Anyway, back to the present. Richarlison threw a flare into the crowd yesterday as they beat Chelsea at Goodison. Firstly, I called that result a week ago. I knew it would happen. Chelsea were always going to shit the bed there, just as Arsenal and United did before them. Those three are going to be responsible for Everton staying up. They should be ashamed of themselves. Chelsea should have their world champions crown taken away immediately. I’m not even joking. Cunts.
     
    But yeah, Richarlison has to be suspended for that. Carra got three games for throwing a coin into the crowd and that’s not as dangerous as throwing a fucking lit flare. That also happened in much different times when you could actually do stuff without there being a massive clamour for excessive punishment. Yeah, I’m saying Richarlison should be cancelled, the fucking scumbag.
     
    The Blues actually had a banner yesterday with the PL logo and the word ‘corrupt’ underneath it. Was that there in the game after they got screwed on the handball against City, or do they only get upset when a decision goes against them in the derby? I want them down almost as much as I want the quadruple.
     
    As for us, Klopp’s press conference today was decent. Usually these CL ones are shite because the questions he gets asked are so fucking lame that not even Klopp can make an interesting answer out of them. Even this one opened with “is the job done?”. I mean fucking hell, what kind of question is that? There isn’t a manager in the world who would say “yeah this one’s over”. The follow up was “just how important is this game in the context of your season?”. IT’S A EUROPEAN CUP SEMI FINAL!! For fuck’s sake.
     
    The Spanish ones were shite too. One fella asked Klopp if he’s worried about the amount of times he’s lost away to Spanish teams. Klopp looked baffled and pointed out times when he hadn’t lost, and also made the point that most of the time he lost he went through anyway. He asked the fella how many times he’d been knocked out by Spanish teams and there were crickets on the other end of the headset. Honestly, some of these journos are stealing a living.
     
    The best bit of the presser was on Thiago, who a Spanish reporter asked about because he’s not been getting selected for Spain. Klopp said Spain have great midfield players but that Thiago could play in any national team in the world and look like the best player. 
     
    That’s true, he often looked like the best player in a star studded Bayern side, and recently he’s looked a level above even in this incredible team. I joked on the pod last week that I’m looking at Thiago recently and wondering if he’s the best player I’ve ever seen. He might be, but it’s way too soon to make that kind of statement.
     
    Tuesday May 3:  
     
    Villarreal 2 L 3. There’s no real logical explanation for this. Had this been a 1st leg we’d never have gone 2-0 down. Had it been a group match it wouldn’t have happened either. But weird things happen to us in Champions League semis. Look at our history in these games This was never going to be easy even though last week we made it look like it would be. We should have known better.
     
    That first half was so so bad. Some of it is due to how well they played, but some of it was just inexplicable, like Thiago being unable to find a red shirt with easy passes. Thankfully they ran their race in the first half and we battered them in the second half to avoid the potential embarrassment that was on the cards at half time.
     
    So on to the final and hopefully we’ll be facing Real Madrid in what would be a proper iconic European Final between two of European football’s royalty. Us, Real, Milan and Bayern are the four. Throw in Barcelona too for the glamour aspect of it. Real Madrid in Paris, that’s what this cup is all about. Not having to play them scruffy twats from up the road. Hala Madrid, you got this.
     
    Meanwhile, Lingard’s brother launched an instagram attack on United after poor old Jesse didn’t get a proper send off last night. It was their last home game, and Rangnick let Cavani go on late on instead of putting Lingard on. I don’t blame him actually, that’s pretty fucking scandalous. Cavani has wanted no part of what’s been going on this season, and although Lingard is a bad whopper he’s a United lad and has given everything he has for that club. 
     
    They really can’t get anything right though any more, and it’s not just the club either. Take the fans, please. Sorry, slipped into Henry Youngman in Goodfellas mode there for a second. Seriously though, take their fans. Last night they planned a protest on 73 minutes but they were playing well and winning for a change, so they just stayed instead (the old ‘green and gold unless we’re good’ mentality). Pathetic. 
     
    Why 73 minutes? Because the Glazers have been there 17 years. But why 73 though, you ask again. Well 73 is 17 minutes from the end, see. Can’t be leaving on 17 minutes, can we. They can’t even leave on 73 because Ronaldo was doing his thing and they might all get to shout “SIIIUUUUU” like the sad little virgins they are. They’re a fucking shambles from top to bottom, and it’s great.
     
    Wednesday May 4:
     
    God I enjoyed that. To steal a phrase from Noel Gallagher, it’s just “too funny”. I’ve got no love for Real Madrid but the sense of relief I’ve got at not having to deal with playing City in Paris is fucking enormous. It’s not even that I think City would beat us. I make it a 50-50 game but potentially losing to them in a European Cup final, to give them their first one, honestly I’m struggling to think of a (realistic) football scenario that’s worse. Fuck all that, I wanted no part of it.
     
    We might lose to Madrid again too, which would also be awful and would take a lot of getting over, but losing a final to fellow European royalty is far more palatable than having to see City's corrupt paws all over our trophy. We’re miles better than Madrid and should beat them, but this is a strange competition that almost seems to have a mind of its own so it's in the lap of the footballing gods.
     
    This trophy decides who it wants to be lifting it, and clearly it fucking hates City. It loves us, but it loves Madrid more. They’ve got out of jail three times in a row now and you do wonder if their name is on the trophy. The only thing is, those three comebacks all came at the Bernebeu and the final is at a neutral venue. 
     
    Meanwhile, I don’t know the details of all this because I can’t be arsed reading up on something that is almost certainly not going to go the way it’s being reported, but it does seem like Abramovich is trying to call in the debt owed to him by Chelsea. Initially it was claimed that he was writing it off, which let’s be honest does seem like just the kind of thing a billionaire crook would do. 
     
    It was also reported that he valued Chelsea at four billion quid, which is essentially the value of the club inflated by the one and a half billion they owed him. Yeah he’s a real stand up guy isn’t he.
     
    Anyway, there’s now talk that they will go under unless the government relax some of the sanctions imposed and allow the sale to go through. That won’t happen. As if a tory government is letting the most tory club on earth go out of business. So Chelsea aren’t going under but it does feel like their days as a superpower are probably coming to an end if they don’t have his money propping them up.
     
    All the fucking trophies they’ve won since he got there and it turns out that his motivation for it all was just needing somewhere to launder his dirty money. Yet Abramovich isn’t even close to being the worst owner out there. Football is fucking rotten. 
     
    Thursday May 5:
     
    Mo gets his POTY award from the writers. His agent was with him, and so were Julian Ward and Michael Edwards. What the fuck are they doing there unless it's for contract talks? Imagine we announce a new deal before one of the finals.
     
    Mo was asked when he collected the award if he would still be in England next year and he said "I'll be back on this stage next year". Amazing. Such levels of swag but it's done in such a cheeky way it never comes across as arrogance. 
     
    It’s mad how much stick Guardiola is getting over last night. I know his record in the competition screams out “bottler” but what the fuck could he have done about that last night? If anything it’s the players to blame as their arses went when they were finally put under pressure, but to me it’s just one of those mad things this competition throws up all the time. The European Cup didn’t want City’s corrupt paws on it so it did its thing. City fans think it's UEFA conspiring against them when really it's just old big ears itself.
     
    I hope City fans start turning on Guardiola though and thinking they can do better. They won’t, because they’re not complete fucking idiots. Yeah you’ll get some knobs calling for change, but most of them know what they’ve got in him and appreciate it. I tell you this, if he left then they wouldn’t get within 15 points of us and they’d be back to what they were under Mancini and Pellegrini. Occasionally that was enough to win the title, but that's because we weren’t piling up 90+ points each season.
     
    I heard some fans on the radio having a go at Grealish too for not killing the tie. Fucking hell, I’m all for him getting shit but come on, he was fucking boss when he came on and was desperately unlucky with those two great efforts. It’s the low hanging fruit to blame the £100m signing who hasn’t really done anything, but it’s mental slagging him specifically off for last night’s game. Still, never mind eh.
     
    I also love the crysarsing about Casemiro somehow escaping yellow cards all night. It’s a valid point but when Fernandinho is in your team it’s not really a point you should be making. Poetic justice that, the kind that the European Cup often likes to dish out.
     
    In other news tonight, Rangers once again overcame superior opposition to advance in the Europa League. They’ve been incredible, it’s not even like they’ve scraped through these games either, they’ve played out of their fucking skins and deserved to win every tie they’ve won. It’s not quite Leicester winning the title levels of beating the odds, but it’s one hell of a story.
     
    I don’t root for or against Rangers and Celtic, the whole Old Firm thing and the shite involved with it all bores me to be honest. I really hope Rangers win this competition now though, and if it were Celtic in the same position having played as well as Rangers have, I’d want them to win too.
     
    They’ll play Frankfurt, who beat West Ham. You’d think that a team good enough to beat West Ham would be too much for Rangers, but Frankfurt are below Dortmund and Leipzig in the Bundesliga and Rangers have knocked both of them off already so who knows.
     
    The Hammers going out is good news though. Ordinarily I wouldn’t begrudge them getting to the final or even winning it, but they play City three days before the Europa League final and we can’t afford to have them sending out the youth team when we need someone to take points off City. So bad luck West Ham, hopefully you’ll want to give your fans one more special occasion this season and you’ll turn up against City next week.
     
    Friday May 6:
     
    Moyes is in trouble after booting the ball at a ball boy last night. It was a pretty low class thing to do and he’ll deserve whatever punishment comes his way. However, every time I watch the clip of it I laugh. I know I shouldn’t, but I can’t help it, it’s just fucking hilarious, especially when you see him saying "ye wee shite, fucking throw it quicker". So is his explanation / apology. “I have to apologise but the ball boy left it short and it fell nicely on the volley for me”. I’m torn here, because I don’t like Moyes and the natural thing here is for me to rip into him, but that’s funny as fuck.
     
    Also hilarious, Ancelotti calling himself “an Evertonian” and saying he’s treating the final like a derby game. Where to start with that. He didn’t even need to say it as they’ve already stopped hating him now that he’s their only hope of stopping us getting number seven. He's "Don Carlo" again now. He'll soon be "that fat Italian cunt" again if he doesn’t win, so there’s no need for him to be sucking up to them.
     
    Another funny thing from last night was Mourinho completely breaking down in tears of joy after knocking Leicester out of the Europa Conference to reach the final. A few years ago he’d be absolutely ripping the piss out of any ‘big’ manager even being in that competition let alone taking it that seriously. How the mighty have fallen. Look at this…
     
     
     
    Klopp talking about Diaz today was interesting. He said how the Spanish / Portuguese lads had helped him a lot to settle, but then mentioned how close he also is to Harvey and Curtis. You can see that on all of the videos the club put out. Diaz is with Curtis and Harvey quite a lot. Those videos are good for seeing the dynamics of who hangs around with who, but the biggest takeaway I usually have is how Kostas seems to be in the middle of everything and seems to be loved by everyone. I’m getting the same vibe from Diaz now too. What a signing he’s been.
     
    We’ve apparently made £100m from this year’s CL run. The question is what to do with it. We could do what Chelsea and City did and buy a Lukaku or Grealish. Or alternatively we could just set fire to it, the end result would be the same. We'll probably go out and sign a couple of players of the calibre of Diaz though because that's how we roll these days. Great isn't it.
     
     
    and that was the week that was....
  • Mo Salah says has made no apologies for publicly saying that he wanted to play Real Madrid as the Reds look to erase bitter memories in their quest for their seventh European Cup.
     
    The Spanish outfit came from the absolute clouds to crush the hearts and minds of Man City at the Bernabeu on Wednesday evening in a comeback that will rank very highly in their illustrious 120-year history.
     
    While there are those in the Football media and casual fans who get all misty eyed and patriotic by the thought of two English clubs fighting for the most prestigious trophy in club football, the reality is very different.
     
    By and large due to familiarity reasons when two clubs from the same country meet in this showcase fixture, it never lives up to expectations.
     
    The main essence of the competition is to challenge yourself against the best of what the continent has to offer.
     
    And come the 28th of this month in Paris that is exactly what will happen when the Reds take on the most successful club in the history of this competition.
     
    One of those 13 triumphs by Real came against Liverpool in 2018 when they emerged 3-1 winners.
     
    It was a bitter end to a terrific European campaign for the Reds and especially for Salah who had enjoyed a record breaking first season at the club, but played no more than 30 minutes after injuring his shoulder in a highly cynical challenge by Sergio Ramos.
     
    In the aftermath of Real’s dramatic win against City, Salah who is not known for being provocative on or off the pitch tweeted “ we have a score to settle.”
     
    It was exactly what fans have said for years and only emphasised after Madrid knocked the Reds out of the competition at the Quarter-final stage last season, albeit Liverpool missing a number of their key stars and their legion of fans at Anfield due to Covid restrictions.
     
    And there is little doubt that it has been in the back of the mind of the players and coaches, and speaking to Sky Sports, the newly crowned Football Writer Association Player of the Year said that he was only being honest.
     

     
    “I don't know why we're not allowed to talk about it but I'm ok to talk about it - I wanted that game! I wanted to play Real Madrid before that game [against Manchester City].
     
    “Of course, I'm not giving too much credit to them. They're an unbelievable team with a great coach, great players. When they asked me who I wanted, I said Madrid. It's an easy answer."
     
    Salah reflected on the 2018 heartbreak and said while the initial disappointment was raw, he knew that the team had to quickly put it behind them.
     
    “You just feel so disappointed, so down," Salah recalled about the Kyiv disappointment. "'Ah come on, not in this game!' But once you have time, it makes you forget.
     
    "I had work affairs and then I had a holiday after. In that holiday I just asked - what do you want? To keep crying about it and be sad about it and it takes you down? Or you just fight back. And I fought back in the best way and that's why we're here now.
     
    “We had a meeting after and the manager talked to us in pre-season. We were so hungry to win the Champions League the year after and in the Premier League we were very close as well. I think it had some benefits also, not everything was good losing that final but we had benefits."
     

     
    Salah may have scored more goals in his debut season (44), but he is unequivocal that this campaign is his best for the club due to the fact that his all-round game is much better.
     
    “This is my best season for me at Liverpool. The goal and assist numbers are high and the way I created chances, the highest number in the Premier League, everything around the game has changed a lot.
     
    "I don't feel that good when the team loses games, or when I don't score or make a difference. But when the team wins and I don't score, I'm still very happy.
     
    "I just try to find the small things to fire me up. I try to look at a small record there, or another record there to keep my mind busy. I try to be driven with these records to break them, I try to be hungry for something new."
     
     
     
     
  • It’s been a while since I did one of these as personal circumstances didn’t allow it, but loads has happened at the top and bottom of the league since the last one. The most significant development was Everton finally dropping into the bottom three after flirting with it for months.
     
    I’ll start with that actually. This might be the first time ever that I’ve led one of these round ups with a Burnley game but it seems fitting as they’ve been on an absolute rampage since they sacked Dyche. I’ll be honest and say I thought that was a terrible move and that they were essentially surrendering their Premier League spot and getting Everton out of jail. I was wrong.
     
    I’ve been watching Burnley games quite closely of late and I’ve unashamedly become a bit of a Clarets fan, because needs must. If they can send Everton down I’ll be forever grateful. That dramatic win over Watford felt like a pivotal moment until Chelsea shit the bed 24 hours later at Goodison.
     
    Still, the importance of this Burnley win could still be massive. Especially given the drama of it. They fell behind early at Watford and it stayed that way until very late, when goals in quick succession by Cork and Brownhill gave them the win and relegated the Hornets.
     
    I hope we don’t see Watford again for a while. I have nothing specific against them but I’m just utterly bored of them and their yo-yo shite. Same with Norwich, who have been up and down more times than a fiddler’s elbow. Don’t come back any time soon, you pointless bastards.
     
    Burnley have taken 10 points from 12 since Mike Jackson took over. I’d never heard of the fella and given how Dyche has pulled them out of this situation several times before it just seemed like a stupid, panic move. 
     
    The only caveat I had to that view was if maybe Dyche had lost the players, but there hadn’t been any reports of that and usually in that situation there are leaks in the press every other day. Maybe we didn’t hear about it because no-one gives a shit about Burnley so the press don’t ever write about them? Or maybe it’s because the players are solid pros and not spoiled whiny cunts like at Man United for example.
     
    It kind of feels like Dyche must have lost the dressing room though. Maybe not in the sense that they hated him, but it does seem that they’d stopped listening to him because they actually look like Burnley again now. So if they stay up the owners get a massive pat on the back, as does Jackson. 
     
    Shit, if he relegates Everton I won’t even object if someone wants to build a statue of him outside Anfield. It wouldn’t be the first Mike Jackson statue at a Premier League ground. Remember when Fulham unveiled that Whacko Jacko one at Craven Cottage? Is that still there? How mad was that though, fucking hell. I had to google that just now to make sure it really happened and it wasn’t some weird dream.
     
    But yeah, if Mike Jackson is responsible for relegating Everton then a statue is the least he deserves. Can’t be doing with the shit puns though. MOTD’s commentator said after this game that “Mike Jackson has served up a Thriller”. Fucks sake, that’s Bad.
     
    MJ was asked what he’d done to turn things around and he said “we just reminded these lads of who they are”. So you could say he told them that it starts with….. the man in the mirror. What? Oh fuck off, that’s gold that is.
     
    Burnley have been amazing of late though. They lost at Norwich and it looked like they were fucked, but the spirit they’ve shown since has been great, but it’s not just that. Whisper it, but they’ve played some pretty good footy. It’s not all long balls and set-pieces, they’ve put some nice passing moves together and they look a totally different side to what they’ve been all season.
     
    Unfortunately Leeds are right back in it now. Not because of anything they’ve done, but the points picked up by Burnley and Everton have got them back on the cusp of it despite their resurgence under the new boss. They lost 4-0 at home to City but that doesn’t tell the full story as apparently (I say apparently as I didn’t watch it) they did pretty well and were in the game for a long time. They had chances too but they couldn’t take them. That’s where they miss my boy Bamford.
     
    They’ve got more injuries now too and lost a couple more key players during this game. The only thing I’ve seen from this was all the fans lashing balls of paper at Grealish as he was taking a corner. Twitter went into meltdown over that and Leeds fans were getting slaughtered for it. What did I miss? Since when is throwing scrunched up bits of paper this massive crime? Fucking snowflake society.
     
    Leeds have tough games to come but I feel as though they just need one more win and that should be enough. The counter point to that would be that they let Fernandinho score against them and arguably deserve relegation just for that. 
     
    On a similar note, Jesse Marsch said before the game it was “the best team in the world versus the best club in the world”. Again, that’s relegation worthy. It’s the kind of shite I’d expect from Everton really. 
     
    Norwich’s fate was sealed with a loss at Villa, who really needed that win as they’ve been in freefall these last couple of months. They were not too far out of the relegation mix themselves but the three points here should be enough now even if they don’t pick up another point, which unless they can take something off City hopefully they won’t.
     
    Watkins put Villa ahead with a deflected effort after Brandon Williams had fell over to set him clear. He’s shite that Williams, so no doubt he’ll be back in the United team next season.
     
    Ings was lively throughout and had earlier been denied by the bar before eventually getting his reward in stoppage time to wrap up the win. 
     
    Villa have to play us and City as well as Burnley twice so they could have a huge say in the top and bottom of the table. Makes me sick to think of the Blues cheering Stevie on against Burnley. Hope they lose both games and Stevie winks at the camera on his way off. 
     
    Wolves got spanked at home by Brighton. Two really unpredictable teams these. Brighton went on a massive losing streak before coming back with some really good results. They’re finishing the season strongly, just as they started it.
     
    Wolves are a team you don’t really enjoy playing because you always think it will be tough, but then you look at where they are in the table and it makes you realise their reputation isn’t really justified. 
     
    I think it’s just that they play better against the good sides because they can sit in and play on the break. When they’re expected to make the play they can’t do it. Brighton could even afford the luxury of missing a penalty in this one.
     
    Mac Allister missed that but soon after he got another chance and he just about made amends, although Sa did get a hand to it and almost made a great save.
     
    Young Farage made it 2-0 and then gave it the binoculars celebration. Not sure what that was, maybe he was looking for boats full of refugees so he could grass them up to the authorities?
     
    Joking aside, I feel kind of bad for Trossard as it can’t be easy looking like that fucking scumbag. I probably should stop making the comparison but it amuses me so *shrugs* whaddayagonnado.
     
    Bissouma added a third as the home fans either booed or walked out. This doesn’t bode well for them playing City, but you can look at it another way, which is what I’m choosing to do. They need to respond in front of their home crowd and they’ve generally done well against City in recent years so they’ll see that game as a chance to redeem themselves and give their fans a nice send off. We only need them to get a draw. Come on Wolves.
     
    Southampton, who have done their bit with two draws against City this season, led early against Palace as Romeu headed in a Ward-Prowse corner. The delivery from Ward-Prowse is just always fucking right on the money, I really like him. Wonder if they’d be interested in a part ex with Ox this summer? 
     
    Palace levelled when Clyne crossed for Eze to volley in at the back post. Clyne has been getting a good run of games recently and is doing well. It’s weird because he played a fucking shitload of games for us but he’s someone who didn’t really leave any kind of lasting memory. I liked him, he was good, but for some reason he’s very forgettable, like he was never even here.
     
    Palace won it at the death when Zaha came off the bench to spin away and fire in a low shot past Herman Munster in goal. He’ll have enjoyed that as him and Ward-Prowse have had beef for years. I’m surprised he didn’t go and celebrate right in front of him as he seems like the type to do that shit. Don’t take that as a dig either, I’m absolutely the type to do that too so I’m not judging.
     
    Onto Sunday now and Chelsea did exactly what I feared they’d do. I said it on the pod and in various conversations I had during the week. I saw it coming a mile off but it’s hard to pinpoint exactly why. 
     
    I just didn’t trust them to go and do what they should be doing against Everton. Arsenal couldn’t do it, United couldn’t do it and I didn’t think Chelsea would either. And sadly I was right. It’s almost like these fucking teams are taken by surprise with how hostile Goodison is and the rampant shithousery of the Everton players. They’re either not expecting it or they just don’t have the balls to deal with it.
     
    I think in Chelsea’s case it’s just that they’re very much apathetic at the moment. The Abramovich thing lingers over them like a bad spell, they don’t have much to play for until the FA Cup final and on Sunday it showed. Everton were shite but they wanted it more. 
     
    We saw Gordon and Richarlison diving all over the place, Mina outdoing both of them with some seriously embarrassing shit,  Coleman trying to referee the game again and Pickford constantly charging sixty yards from his goal to get involved in every little fracas, of which there were plenty. Horrible shower of cunts.
     
    And Chelsea just let it get to them, the fucking useless wankers. I can’t even tell you how angry I am with them. They should be stripped of their World Club Champions crown for this. Not even joking, They don’t deserve that title if they can’t even beat that fat, bald, tory twat and his team of horrible little shithouse rats.
     
    As each week passes my desperation for them to go down increases to the point where sometimes I think it would be just as good as us winning a trophy. I then have to chastise for myself for being a tit, but I can’t lie that there have been moments when I’ve thought that. Usually when Richarlison is on my screen. 
     
    I want them relegated so much now that it’s constantly in my thoughts. It’s not even because of the fans either. It’s Lampard and the players. I fucking can’t stand the cunt and some of those players are among the biggest shitbags in the entire league. Pickford, Richarlison, Mina, Gordon, Coleman, Allan, Calvert-Lewin, Gomes… 
     
    Fucking hell, Sigurdsson doesn’t even make the list and he’s an actual nonce. That’s how much I hate some of those players. Come on Leeds. Come on Burnley. Don’t let us down.
     
    The battle for fourth looks like going down to the wire as Spurs and Arsenal both won. Spurs started badly against Leicester and could have been a couple of goals down before Kane settled the nerves by heading them ahead. Son added two more as they won comfortably in the end, even though that Iheanacho prick bagged a late consolation. 
     
    Leicester’s league form has been shite as they’ve been pre-occupied with Europe. They better sort their shit out and beat Everton this weekend, but they won’t because they’ve been fucking shite for months.
     
    Arsenal won at West Ham, which was no surprise as the Hammers are 100% focused on their Europa League semi and have given up on the league now. They even let Rob Holding score. Fucking hell. At least I think it was Rob Holding. Where the fuck did he get that head of hair from? Has he been to see Shaq’s barber?
     
    Bowen equalised and was later brought down by Ramsdale as he ran through on goal. The keeper got a yellow for that but it could easily have been a red. Surprising that Mike Dean went with the lenient option, especially as he has previous for fucking Arsenal over. He’s going soft, no wonder he’s retiring.
     
    Gabriel won it for the Gunners with a back post header. West Ham conceding two goals from set-pieces to Arsenal, who never score from set-pieces. Good job Moyesy.
     
    Finally, Monday night saw United beat Brentford and celebrate like they’d won a trophy. It was their last home game so the lap of appreciation was somewhat understandable, but the way they were smelling themselves wasn’t. Absolutely shameless bunch of twats that United team. They’ve brought nothing but embarrassment on the club all season but they beat Brentford and walking around with their dicks swinging, like a Poundland Arsenal.
     
    The fans deserve no better though. They planned a protest but then the team were playing some good stuff for once and they were winning, so they sacked off the protest and stayed until the end, and then applauded them when they walked around the pitch afterwards. 
     
    Green and Gold, unless they’re good. Embarrassing wankers.
  • We probably should have expected this. After all, we never make these semi finals easy. Remember when we battered Roma and somehow ended up hanging on? I think we were 5-0 up at one point in that tie weren’t we? This time the lead was only 2-0 so maybe this was inevitable. How else can you explain what happened in that first half? 
     
    That opening 45 minutes was mad. Villarreal did to us what we normally do to everyone else. They outworked us, outfought us and outplayed us. They were good value for their 2-0 lead even though they didn’t exactly create a load of chances. It was partly them playing out of their skins, and mostly us being absolutely fucking shit. Virtually everyone.
     
    It’s easier to name the ones I didn’t think were abysmal. That would be Konate, Fabinho and Virgil. Not that any of them were particularly good, but they weren’t bad. Everyone else though, Jesus. It’s hard to say exactly what went wrong and why. The easy explanation would be that we weren’t prepared for what they threw at us, but I can’t accept that these players will have been complacent and thought the job was done. There’s no way they’d think that and no way Klopp would let them.
     
    But that’s how it looked. I just think the early goal rattled us and lifted them. And we just didn’t recover from it until we were able to get in at half time and regroup. Momentum was going against us and Villarreal rode the wave of emotion from the crowd. We know how that is, we’ve done it to the opposition countless times. This time we were on the receiving end.
     
    It’s just one of those unquantifiable things when players are suddenly unable to do even the most basic things they can normally do with their eyes closed. As an example, look at Thiago’s passing. It was wretched. Yet this is a fella who (at Anfield especially) has been flawless and has produced performances of a standard rarely even seen before. All of a sudden he’s passing the ball straight out of play.
     
    Not that he was the only one, but he’s a good example to use because it’s so unexpected seeing him like that. Keita was just as bad but that’s less of a surprise. Robbo may have had his worst 45 minutes as a Red in that half and Trent was no better. As for the front three…. Fucking hell.
     
    As I say though, that early goal really set the tone for everything and was exactly what Villarreal needed after how outclassed they were last week. We wondered whether they’d go for it or continue to play it cagey and we got our answer right from the kick off. They were a side transformed.
     
    Their opening goal was bad defending from us but they get that goal because they were pushed up the pitch and got men in the box. They didn’t do that at all last week, mostly because they weren’t allowed to. This was different because they’d clearly decided it was shit or bust. They were going to press us, push right up and gamble that we wouldn’t be able to punish them. The gamble worked.
     
    They went ahead when a cross from the left was met by Kapoue on the back post. He’d stolen in round the back of Robbo but mis-kicked his shot. Unfortunately for us the ball fell perfectly for Dia who had got in front of Virgil and he had a tap in. And just like that, game on.
     
    I think it felt worse just because of how one sided it was last week. That was way more than a 2-0 game and I said at the time that Villarreal will probably be happy to go home with just a two goal deficit considering it felt like a six or seven goal game. And then within a couple of minutes they were only down by one. That’s the problem when you don’t take your chances.
     
    But this could just be inevitable. As I said, us and CL semis, it’s never going to be straightforward is it? Even when they should be, they aren’t, but that’s all just part of our story in this competition. It is what it is I suppose, and analysing that first half is pretty pointless. There was so much space for us to exploit but we kept picking the wrong pass or we just failed to execute properly.
     
    The one chance we had was when Jota went through but a dreadful touch allowed the keeper to come out and smother the danger. Salah seized on the loose ball, went round the keeper but dragged a shot wide. The ref had already blown for a non-existent foul though. Then the keeper jumps up and starts having a go at Mo for absolutely fuck all. What the hell was that all about?
     
    As much as I have a lot of time for Villarreal’s brilliant fans, the antics of some of their players was pissing me off. The keeper is a dick, that Moreno fella was never off the floor and Coquelin looked like he was auditioning for a move to Lampard’s Everton. What a cunt.
     
    So it really stung when it was him that got their second goal. It’s bad play from both of our full backs really. Capoue was causing Robbo a problem for that entire half and it was alarming just how easily he was able to get the cross in for that goal. One second Robbo is right on him, the next he’s five yards off him and Capoue is putting a cross into the middle.
     
    The next problem is Trent has a standing jump while Coquelin has a run at it. There’s only going to be one winner there, although even allowing for that Trent didn’t exactly make it difficult for him did he? And just like that all our great work from the first leg was undone and we would have to win the tie all over again.
     
    They’d also had a penalty shout when Lo Celso went down under a challenge from Alisson. The ref got that right, Alisson came out and played the ball and Lo Celso just jumped into him trying to get a pen. He was almost as bad as Moreno and Coquelin. 
     
    We just need to get to half time so Kloppo could get a grip of them. His half time adjustments usually do the trick and this was no different. What’s funny is that usually he will bring up some situations where we had success and he’ll show them to the players and say “more of this” and “less of the other shit”. He said afterwards that when he asked Pete Krawietz to find an example of us doing it right, Pete shook his head and said there wasn’t any!
     
    Obviously I was somewhat worried at half time and all kinds of scenarios were going around in my head. Imagine the knock on effect this would have on the rest of the season if we lost. Imagine the embarrassment of it. It would be a result we’d never really be able to get over because it’s such a golden opportunity to reach a final and we’d have completely shit the bed.
     
    So I did have concerns but I also expected us to come out and dominate the second half. Firstly because there’s no way we could be that bad again, and secondly because there was no way Villarreal could keep that up for another 45 minutes. So any worry I had was not related to us being outplayed, it was just down the variables of football. We could batter them for 45 minutes but somehow fail to score and then we could get done on a set-piece or breakaway. Maybe it goes to extra time and then pens. Then it’s in the lap of the gods.
     
    So there was a genuine danger at half time that we could go out, regardless of how well we might play. Thankfully their keeper is an absolute fucking clown and now we’re going to the final.
     
    Of course Luis Diaz also had a big say in what happened after the break, but the keeper is the main reason we won this game. Fucking hell, he’s a joke. We see keeper’s make mistakes every week but in between those mistakes they at least look like they are goalkeepers. Over the two legs this fella has looked like he’d been plucked from the crowd and handed the gloves.
     
    Fabinho’s goal should never have beaten him. That’s just dreadful that. I can’t even really give Fabinho credit for it because he probably shouldn’t have been shooting in the first place and he certainly shouldn’t have been putting it where he did, which was straight at the keeper. Although who knows, maybe the analysis showed how shit he was and the instructions were “just hit the target and it will go in”.
     
    Diaz went with the same approach with his header. Straight at the keeper, right through his legs. At least he did head this one and didn’t try a stupid scissor kick like he did with the previous chance. I’m loathe to criticise him for anything though as he’s fucking boss and his enthusiasm is just so infectious. His arrival gave us the lift we needed, but there were other factors in the way the game went too.
     
    We were obviously much improved but their approach changed too. In the first half they were all high energy, front foot, gung ho throwing everything at us to get back in the game. Once they got level, Emery reverted back to their cagey, men behind the ball counter attack approach. That handed the initial back to us. Their best chance was probably to keep attacking, but I just don’t think they could sustain those energy levels so it was understandable they went back to how they normally play.
     
    The second half was one way traffic though and we should have scored more. The Diaz goal killed the contest but it was still nice that we were able to score again and win the game, not just the tie. Cool finish by Sadio but the keeper disgraced himself again. What the fuck was he doing? Absolute liability him.
     
    We wasted loads more opportunities for goals and Mo in particular will be pissed off he didn’t get on the scoresheet. He had opportunities but he just didn’t look on it. Always chasing a heavy touch or over stretching. It might help if he went on the outside once in a while instead of always cutting in on his left, but then who the fuck am I to be critiquing a man who scores as many goals as he does.
     
    So alls well that ends well and off to Paris we go. There’s no point dwelling on anything from this game, good or bad, because when we’re involved in them CL semis are just fucking weird games where mad stuff happens. Take the win, enjoy it, move on to the next game.
     
    Star man is tricky because the first half was so bad. Everyone was much better in the second, especially Keita and Thiago. Sadio as well, he looked a different player when he went back through the middle after Diaz came on. Our best player was their keeper so I’ll give it to him, the absolute fucking dickhead. Getting in Mo’s face like that and then gifting us three goals. What a tit.
     
    So on we go. We can forget about the final for now as we still have league games and FA Cup final to concentrate on. It’s nice being able to book our place in another final and then just put it to bed for a bit as it gives us something to look forward to when the domestic season is done. I just hope it’s a proper European final against Real Madrid. That’s why you play in Europe, to go up against the big names in the glamour games. No-one wants to be playing those Abu Dhabi fucks. 
     
    Hala Madrid! 
     
    And up the Reds!
     
    Team: Alisson; Alexander-Arnold, Konate, Van Dijk, Robertson (Tsimikas); Fabinho (Henderson), Thiago (Jones), Keita (Milner); Salah, Jota (Diaz), Mané:
  • Paris here we come! After being given an almighty scare the Reds advanced to the final by finally overcoming a spirited Villarreal side who had wiped out their first leg deficit before eventually succumbing to a Luis Diaz inspired Liverpool.
     
    Chris Smith is joined by Julian Richards and TLW Editor Dave Usher to bask in the glory of a third Champions League Final appearance in five years and to discuss what would constitute a successful season from this point on. Is it already a success or is that dependant on securing more silverware?
     
     

  • Jurgen Klopp has hailed the return of the ‘Mentality monsters’ as Liverpool clinched their third Champions League final berth in the tenure of the German with a 3-2 second leg victory against Villareal and 5-2 on aggregate.
     
    As fans of the club will admit, Liverpool rarely do things the easy way and that was proved once again as Villarreal who were criticised in some quarters for their approach to the first leg at Anfield last week attacked this fixture with relish from the kick-off and deservedly held a 2-0 lead at half time.
     
    It was a very uncharacteristic first half showing by the visitors largely because the lack of composure all over the pitch, something that they pride themselves on.
     
    The underdogs had certainly rattled the six-time winners of this competition and it was up to the Reds to show their true mettle.
     
    And that they did emphatically with Fabinho, Luis Diaz and Sadio Mane all scoring within 12 minutes and in general normal service was resumed with a much better display.
     
    Jurgen Klopp was naturally a delighted manager after the game, while also wanting to pay tribute to their opponents as reported by the Official site.
     
    “It is, for me, the best club competition in the world. I love it, love the sound, everything, love the nights. Respect to Villarreal, this really wonderful stadium, what the people are doing here is incredible, what Unai [Emery] is doing is incredible, how the players put us under pressure, everything is great. So it feels so special because it was so difficult for us, but in the end we deserved it as well and that’s really cool.
     
    “It was massive, massive from the boys. Before the game I told the boys that I would like to read the headlines that ‘The mentality monsters were in town’ just because I wanted us from the first moment not like somebody that defends the result but goes for the three points or for the win. I couldn’t see that but the second half was like this… for me it was like this because you could see how impressed we were in the first half and then coming back like we came back in the second half was really special.
     

     
    Klopp said that the half time interval came at the perfect time as he and his assistants were able some areas that they could do better, saying that the team was “incredibly rushed and lacked any sort of build-up play,” 
     
    When this game is dissected in the days and weeks ahead, the introduction of Luis Diaz at half time will be seen as a major turning point.
     

     
    When Klopp was asked about the change, he agreed the impact of the Columbian was vital but he absolutely did not want it to look like a slight on Diogo Jota in any shape or form.
     
    “He had a massive impact. But what I don’t like about this is the next story is around that Diogo Jota was our problem: he was not at all our problem, we just had to mix it up. We had 11 problems, if you want, in the first half. We just had to mix it up, you can do that with explaining, what I did obviously, but you need then fresh input as well.
     
    “Sadio all of a sudden was involved in the game, that was nothing to do with the position, it must have been a misunderstanding. For specific situations I wanted Mo and Sadio high and wide, but not in open play situations. So even after working for so long together… it’s just because it means so much, that’s how it is, it means so much.
     
    “First half all of a sudden we were not ourselves but second half we were ourselves and that’s why we won the game. Yes of course, Luis, what a goal and he had a few more situations. I think the first one he takes with a bicycle kick, if he takes that on the chest he can score already. So yeah, top performance.“
     
    Klopp is someone who takes every triumph on its merits and does not like to compare or favour one over another.
     
    But for the way that the team was able to adapt after being significantly challenged, this rated highly for him.
     
    “Yes, it’s a massive one. An absolutely massive one - being 2-0 down, the game looked like it looked, the whole world thought, ‘OK, this is rather 3-0 than a 2-1’ but maybe we knew that at half-time. So that’s the situation, that’s what everybody thinks, but we are still here, so we could give it a try actually. We just had to make sure that everybody could see that we try and that’s what we did in the second half.”
     
     
     
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