Report by
Dave Usher
It was a night when our worst fears became real, or should that be Real. We went into the game with question marks about our goalkeeper, concerns over the lack of cover for the front three and a nagging worry over whether Madrid’s knack of finding ways to win by hook or by crook would prove decisive. We got the full house.
I'll apologise in advance for the lack of any real structure to this (I’m not big on structure at the best of times to be fair), but there’s just so much to get through that I’m just going to type whatever comes into my head and roll with it in whatever order it comes to me.
Firstly, I want to praise the lads for what they did this season. They were the best team in the Champions League and it took an act of massive cowardice and shithousery to defeat them. All the focus seems to be on poor Loris Karius, but let’s not overlook that the course of this game was irrevocably altered when the biggest twat in football wrenched Salah’s arm from it’s socket and then laughed about it as a tearful Mo left the field.
That right there is the thing that the football world should be talking about, yet it seems like once again it’s being dismissed as just “Ramos being Ramos”. It’s the whole “Ho ho ho wee Scholesy cannae tackle” shit only on a much grander scale. He should be the most reviled man in football, yet the shit he pulls week in week out is actually glorified by many, and I find it fucking bizarre.
The challenge that Ramos did is banned in Rugby and Aussie Rules. Do you know how dangerous something has to be to get banned in those sports? So why aren't his fellow pros calling him out on it? They've played the game, they know. Yet hardly any of them have the balls to say anything about it. Comes to something when we're relying on Jermaine Pennant to be the voice of reason.
The narrative from this game shouldn’t be Karius and his clangers, it should be about the biggest cunt in world football taking out arguably the nicest lad in world football and getting away with it. If there is anyone out there who still believes in the expression “cheats never prosper”, explain how Ronaldo and Ramos have won three European Cups on the bounce.
Ramos is scum. He's no pantomime villain like Suarez, Diego Costa or Drogba for example. This fella is a genuine fucking scumbag and he’s dangerous. He knew exactly what he was doing to Salah and anyone who says differently doesn’t know football and certainly doesn’t know Ramos. Look at how he went to ground. It wasn’t a natural movement. When you fall you put your hands out to break your fall. You don’t hold onto your opponent’s arm and then twist your body in an unnatural way to inflict maximum damage. It was an MMA move and it pretty much decided the final.
That was the first moment that us not winning even entered my head. Seriously. At no point in the build up to the game did I feel nervous. The only thing I felt nervous about was the fact I didn’t feel nervous. I had complete confidence in the team and was just desperate for it to start. I thought I’d start to feel anxious when kick off approached, but I didn’t. Not even the tiniest little bit.
My confidence never wavered until Mo left the field in tears, and then it evaporated. We all knew we were in big trouble at that moment. Seeing poor little Mo go out like that was devastating. Football can be a right bastard at times.
Up until that moment, I had no doubt we would win the game because I genuinely believe we’re a better team than them. If we play them next year over two legs (please, PLEASE let us get them over two legs) I really think we’ll take them apart. With a full compliment of players for 90 minutes in this game I think we’d have beaten them relatively comfortably, but we'll never know because Ramos ensured it never happened.
The way the opening 25 minutes or so went tells me that my confidence wasn’t misplaced. We were well on top and it felt like only a matter of time until we scored. When Mo went off that changed everything though. It tipped the scales the other way. We were no longer a better team than them because we no longer had the tools to get at them and scare them. If we were going to win it was now going to be a backs to the wall effort where we’d need to ride our luck.
Our players visibly shrank after Mo went off and Madrid’s grew. It really did change the entire flow of the game. The way we played after that it was almost as though we had gone down to ten men. We may as well have for all the impact Lallana made. I don’t blame him, he’s a brilliant midfielder but he’s no good in a front three even at the best of times. To come into a game like that with virtually no playing time under his belt was asking an awful lot.
Klopp didn’t have a great deal of choice though did he? We’ve been walking a tightrope since January but until now we’d just about gotten away with it. In hindsight, maybe Solanke could have done something, or perhaps Lallana should have been dropped into a four man midfield with just two up front. I don’t really think anything would have made much difference though, not least because of how much Mo going off drained everyone’s spirits.
In theory, losing one player shouldn’t have had the dramatic impact it did but when there is no like for like replacement it’s difficult. As soon as Mo left the field we were massively handicapped, even without taking into account the psychological aspect of it.
I’d liken it to a boxer with a broken hand. We still had our ring smarts (Bobby) and still had a left jab (Sadio), but there was no knockout right hook and as a result of that Madrid knew they could march forward and throw haymakers without having to worry about our counter punch.
And yet really they didn’t do much to hurt us. The damage was largely self inflicted and to a man the back four were tremendous. Benzema, Ronaldo and Isco did nothing. The lads gave us everything but they couldn’t show their quality in attack because they lost their best player and the lack of squad depth finally caught up with us at the worst possible time. We’ve been saying all season that we’d be screwed if anything happened to one of the front three but up until now we’d mostly got away with it. We hadn’t faced a thug like Ramos until now though.
We’ve got to add more attacking quality this summer if we’re going to build on what we’ve achieved this year. It’s not easy adding players of equal or better ability than what we have, but that’s the key. Madrid brought Gareth Bale off the bench while our only attacking option was a half fit midfielder or Solanke. Not replacing that little rat Coutinho finally bit us in the arse at the worst possible fucking time. That’s modern Liverpool though, this kind of nightmarish shit keeps on happening to us.
After the Europa Final two years ago I was angry and disillusioned with the players. Had the entire team been sold after that game I doubt I’d have missed any of them other than Milner and Hendo. I had no attachment to that team, I felt they let us down that night and it will always rankle that we blew that game (although it’s easy to forget that we had four good penalty shouts turned down that night).
This is different though. I’m not angry with the players; I’m proud of them. I feel bad for them. I genuinely like them. In fact you know what, I love these lads. They gave us everything they had and came up short due to poor Loris having probably the worst game any keeper has ever had on such a big stage, and because they were robbed of Salah.
They’ve provided us with some great memories this season. Whatsmore, I’ll forever believe they’d have won this game but for what happened to Mo. It’s incredibly cruel and to be honest I’m sick of this freaky, unimaginable shit happening to us. This was “Gerrard’s slip” all over again. The way Mo was taken out of the game was bad enough, but their first goal… I don’t even know what to say. I’ve never seen that happen before.
Of course Karius is to blame for it and it was one of the worst mistakes in a high profile game that I can remember. His mistake for the third was horrific too, but at least that was the kind of error that you see regularly right across the league throughout any given season. I mean, Mignolet did the exact same thing at Arsenal. It can happen. It’s bad but it’s not especially out of the ordinary.
That first one though…. *shakes head* Think about how many times over the course of this season that a goalkeeper has had a ball in his hands in that situation. I’m talking all four English Leagues, the Champions League Europa League, hell, throw in La Liga, Serie A and whatever league you want. How many times have keepers had the ball in their hands? Millions probably. Now how many times has that happened? Probably just this once.
And it happened to US, on THIS stage. It’s hard to get away from the notion that we’re cursed. It’s not just that we keep coming up short, it’s HOW we are coming up short. It’s utterly mental. It’s like some Manc or Blueshite is writing a script as to what is the cruelest/funniest way (depending on your allegiance) they can come up with to screw us over and leave us heart broken.
Honestly, the odds on the shit that keeps happening to us must be astronomical. If someone had said before the game that this was how it was going to go down, no-one would have believed it. Yet it happened. Fuck me, we must have used up 20 years worth of luck in 05 and 06 because ever since it’s been just brutal.
We actually overcame the first blunder from Karius and equalised when the monstrous Lovren beat Ramos in the air and Sadio scored from close range. The scenes when that goal went in…. bloody hell. A group of us were watching in the Echo arena and it was just mental. I can’t remember the last time I felt like that celebrating a goal, it was just an incredible feeling bouncing round with mates, getting drowned by ale flying all over the place. Such a special moment, but it was sadly short-lived.
It was one of the only times we even looked remotely threatening really. That said, we were really comfortable at the back and never looked in trouble until Bale came off the bench and scored with his first touch. It was a real sickener but there is literally nothing you can do to stop that. We defended it fine. Mané forced Marcelo back onto his right foot and he even managed to to partially block the cross. Then Bale goes and does that. It’s probably the greatest goal ever scored in a European final. It would have to happen against us, wouldn’t it?
What really irks me about it is that Madrid don’t deserve that as they’ve treated Bale like a red-headed step son ever since he got there. Even at the end hardly any of the fuckers were celebrating with him because he doesn’t have Ronaldo’s seal of approval.
We tried to come back from it but really struggled to make much headway. Firmino couldn’t get going without Salah up there with him, so other than set-pieces Mané was really the only hope we had. He hit the post with a good effort when it was 1-1 but that was really the last time we posed any kind of danger and the third goal completely killed the whole thing. And probably Karius’ Liverpool career, but that’s a discussion for another time.
It was a terrible mistake from him but any anger I feel about this game is 100% directed at Ramos. Anyone who is angry with Karius needs to have a fucking word with themselves. He made two catastrophic errors that cost us the game but he didn’t do it on purpose and he now has to live with it for the rest of his life. The poor lad is distraught and I just hope he’s getting the right kind of support from his team-mates. I’m sure Klopp is doing all he can for him and already I can see the fans rallying around him. There’ll still be shithouses abusing him online but hopefully they will be drowned out by those offering support.
It’s not about backing him as our future goalkeeper and if you want him replaced that’s fine (I don’t see how anyone wouldn’t) but why be angry with the lad himself? It isn’t going to change the result is it? Don’t get me wrong, in the immediate aftermath of the game I was pissed off and blaming him, but anyone who can watch those scenes at the end and not feel absolutely dreadful for the kid has a fucking heart of stone. I feel like crying for him when I see it.
As bad as I feel about us losing the game, the thing that is upsetting me most today is the thought of what Karius is going through. My heart genuinely breaks for him, I don’t know how you deal with something like that. It would be better for him if we had another game next week and he could go back into training and try to put it behind him as best he can, but instead everyone is now fucking off on holiday and he has to stew on this all summer. It’s horrible, I just feel awful for him. I want to give him a hug. Maybe it’s an age thing, as a few years ago I might not have been this charitable.
Ramos though. Here’s the thing. Even before this game I’ve called him the biggest snide in football. In fact, only a couple of weeks ago I wrote this in the TLW Diary:
“He’s a proper baddie he is. I’m not looking forward to whatever shithousery he has in store for us. If we’re losing there’s nothing more certain he’ll be rolling around time wasting, and if we’re winning then he’ll be pulling out all the stops to get one of our lads sent off. He’s the only defender on the planet who can play alongside Pepe and be regarded as the bigger bastard”.
He’s the absolute fucking worst and one of the only real fears I had about the game was he’d do something dastardly to fuck us up. I wasn’t expecting him to do that though. He did the rolling around and time wasting thing as predicted, fucking hurling himself around trying to get Mané in trouble on a couple of occasions. He got a free-kick both times too despite not being touched.
Sometimes I wonder if referees actually watch football. I mean how can you watch what Ramos does every week and ever give him any kind of decision? If I were refereeing him he’d need to be smashed over the head with a cricket bat before I’d even consider giving him a free-kick, although chances are I’d be the one swinging the bat so he’d get fuck all.
The only criticism I have of our team is that they’re just too fucking nice and they let themselves be pushed around. There’s no nasty in any of them, absolutely no bastards in the team and that’s not really a good thing. It’s mostly on Klopp as he clearly doesn’t want that, but there are times when you really have to show you’re not a soft touch. You can't always turn the other cheek I'm afraid.
What Ramos did to Salah should not have gone unpunished. In fact, what he did to Karius a bit later shouldn’t have either. Fair play to the waste of oxygen behind the goal who somehow failed to spot that blatant and deliberate elbow. Seriously, what are those dickheads there for? They’re stealing a living.
Bottom line though, Ramos put Mo out of the game with a cynical foul and then elbowed our keeper in the face and none of our lads did anything about it. Not one. Maybe I'm living in the past, but that is just not acceptable to me.
I get that it’s difficult to take retribution when the game is in the balance but when we were 3-1 down and he took an age to play a backpass just so he could draw Sadio in and then hit the deck without being touched, I’m sorry but someone needed to fucking do something. By someone I mostly mean Hendo I suppose, as he’s the captain.
Look, I don’t want to go all ‘yer da’ here and reference ‘what Souey would have done’, because it really is a completely different game these days and I get that. Nevertheless, it genuinely mystifies me how nobody has broken that twat’s jaw. I’m being deadly serious here. How can you play on the same pitch as someone pulling the shit he does, and do fuck all about it?
Here’s what should have happened, and I say this with a completely clear head and not in the heat of the moment. When Ramos took that dive to get Mané booked late on, one of our players should have steamed over and landed one straight on his jaw. Just deck him and then walk off the field before the ref even gets his red card out.
It might be difficult for a player who is going to the World Cup, as there are suspensions and things to worry about, but someone should have planted him and sent out the message that if you want to fuck with us then there’ll be consequences and repercussions. Do it for Mo, he’s done enough for you this season.
Whoever had done it would have had most of the football world applauding and it would have been worth whatever suspension followed. Ramos had his wicked way with us and not one of our lads did a fucking thing about it, and it starts with the skipper. I love ‘Hendo’, he’s a good captain for the most part but while Madrid’s leader was bouncing around bullying people and conning decisions out of the ref, ours was… actually I don’t even know what he was doing because I hardly saw him all night to be honest. He shook Ramos’ hand afterwards though, at least so I’m told, which says it all for me. Too. Fucking. Nice.
I’m not putting any great stock in my observations from the game as I’d had a few and was watching on a big screen and couldn’t really hear the commentary. I have no intention of ever watching it again either so if I’ve done Hendo, Bobby or Lallana a disservice here for their performances then I’m happy to admit if I’m wrong. I just don’t remember seeing any of them do anything at all.
Wijnaldum was lively and energetic, but poor Milner looked goosed. He was back to being 2016 Milner who seemed to do everything at full stretch and was just a fraction too late to everything. It was no surprise when he was subbed, but I don’t even remember Can touching the ball. Why not throw Solanke on at that point? Again though, it really didn’t matter by that stage.
It was a horrible way to lose but we’ve made massive strides this year and some players who were being questioned have shown they can hack it on the big stage. Trent took everything in his stride and was completely untroubled by Ronaldo, Isco, Marcelo or whoever else he came up against. On the other flank Andy Robbo is the find of the decade; he’s incredible. His goal-saving tackle on Ronaldo would have been an iconic moment if we’d somehow been able to win.
The one man who has probably made the biggest statement of all though is Lovren. He was IMMENSE in this game and his late tackle to deny Bale a hat-trick was fantastic. A proper fucking man’s display from him. I’ve always liked Lovren and rooted for him, but I never had complete faith and trust in him and never thought he’d ever really be able to win everyone over because of the sporadic mistakes he’s prone to.
He probably still hasn’t won everyone over and knowing some of our fans he never will, but I tell you something, he can play for me any day of the week as he’s got balls. The mistakes he makes are usually a result of that. He’s aggressive and plays on the front foot and that can be risky. He plays like that because Klopp demands it, and when you hear the way Klopp talks about him you can forget about any notion you might have about him being replaced, because it’s not happening. Well in Dejan lad.
Ultimately though despite some heroic efforts, the game was devastating for everyone. Players, Klopp and the fans. Most of the players can console themselves in the knowledge they played well and just came up short, but for Karius there is absolutely no consolation. He feels like he let everyone down and nothing anyone says will be of any real comfort. Who’d be a goalkeeper eh?
I’m not ready to turn the page and give it the ‘rah rah’ speech about how “we’ll bounce back” and “things like this are character building” or “it will make the good times taste even sweeter”. I’m not ready for that yet. Let Jurgen do it, he’s had enough fucking practice. I just want to lick my wounds over the summer and then when next season starts let’s get behind the lads again and watch them just fuck everybody’s shit up.
Hopefully at some point next season we’ll get another crack at Ramos and get some payback on the despicable twat. Ideally Naby Keita will two foot him and send his balls up into his fucking throat. And on that note I’ll call time on this game and this season I think.
Star man is Lovren, with honourable mentions to Mané, Robertson and the random fan who ran on at the end and got in Ronaldo's way as he desperately tried to get the garbage time goal that would have seen him make the night all about him. Well done that man, whoever you are.
Thanks to all of you for reading, and see you all next season.
Team: Karius; Alexander-Arnold, Lovren, Van Dijk, Robertson; Henderson, Milner (Can), Wijnaldum; Salah (Lallana), Firmino, Mané:
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