Roma 4 Liverpool 2 (May 2 2018)

[tlw content]

I don’t really know how to feel about this. Well obviously I know how I’m supposed to feel, it’s just that I don’t really feel that way. There are all kinds of different emotions going on right now and I’m still trying to process them. I feel more upbeat today than I did last night, but it’s a strange sensation when I see so many fellow Reds celebrating when I’m just not feeling it. We've just reached a Champions League final, why am I not on cloud nine? 
 
Don’t get me wrong, I’m massively excited about the final, but I didn’t feel like celebrating last night and even today I’m thinking more about the final itself than revelling in the joy of just getting there. I saw the scenes of joy and celebration around me in town last night, and I saw the jubilation in Rome from the players as they celebrated with the travelling fans (who were incredible), but I just felt a bit detached from it somehow. I didn’t know why, but having slept on it I think I do now. 
 
We’ve won nothing yet. Reaching the final is sound and that, but unless we win it means fuck all really. The pain of Athens still gnaws away at me and it took me months to get over the Europa League loss to Sevilla. I hated pretty much the entire squad for about nine months after that collapse, longer in the case of poor little Alberto. I’m pretty sure that’s why I feel the way I do today.
 
Previously when we’ve won big semi finals I’ve been as overjoyed as anyone (the two Chelsea ones were amazing), but this feels different. It’s all about the final now. We have to win it. I’m not saying we will win, or that we should be favourites to win it, or even that if we don’t win it we’re failures (depends on the performance really). 
 
I’m just saying that I won’t have any desire to celebrate until we do win it. That doesn’t mean I don’t recognise how well the lads have done to get there, and I’m made up for all of you who are ecstatic and celebrating it. I wish I felt that way too. I’m not saying it’s wrong to celebrate getting to the final as it’s not. These are moments to savour, and if anything I’m the one who’s wrong for not really feeling it. As I said though, I’m not really feeling that at all as the job isn’t done. 
 
That isn’t taking anything away from what the lads have done so far. They’ve been fantastic in this competition and even though this wasn’t the ideal way to book a place in the final, there are some mitigating circumstances for it I think. We were never in serious danger of blowing the lead and the final scoreline makes it look much more hairy than it actually was, but it should never have come to that. 
 
At no point did I ever think we were playing particularly well but we were doing enough and the first half was a good professional performance. At 2-1 it was all going according to plan and we were one goal away from completely ending it as had it gone to 7-3 on aggregate they’d have needed six. 
 
It sounds completely fucking bonkers to say this but four goals isn’t quite an unassailable lead for us. Not in this type of situation anyway. At 7-3 I wasn’t worried, of course I wasn’t, but the reason I wasn’t worried was because I thought we’d score again. Did I think it was possible we could concede four? Yeah. Unlikely, but not impossible. I thought we’d score again though so I was fine. A mate text to tell me he was still shitting himself and I said that’s because he’s a fanny. I had to text back and apologise at full time! 
 
How do we get ourselves into these mad situations? We were 5-0 up and Roma were begging for the final whistle. Who’d have imagined at that point that we would only end up going through by one goal, despite scoring two more in the away leg? It’s fucking mental really, especially as we did exactly what we needed to do in the first half. 
 

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[ZonkoVille77]

Agree 100% with all of that.

I even said i was still nervous after we went 2-1 up. I think the whole team look goosed at the minute. Such a pity we didn't wrap up CL earlier. Too many stupid draws.

[dockers_strike]

Hmmm. Do not understand the down beat. Sure my arse was twitching for the last 4 minutes after Naingailon cracked that 3rd in then the ref giving them a pen but for the other 86 minutes or so I was made up. The boys had done everything we wanted. Trent should have done better with that pass before they went on to equalise but other than that Roma were pretty much reduced to just twatting it at goal and being very wasteful plus chucking themselves to the floor. Some of the free kicks they got were just diabolical. So overall Im very happy. We turn to Chelsea now and hopefully we get a point.

[Baresi]

I am always more worried when we get into positions of strength. I was chilly as fuck for both the first legs of the quarters/semi, yet was a nervous wreck for both return legs. I think I’ll be fine for the final as this team has exceeded my expectations for what they have achieved in the CL this season.

[Bucksinator]

Totally agree with everything Dave,I was more tired than elated at the final whistle,I had to ho to bed straight after.I thought the second half performance was very poor,lets hope they have all the bad champions league football out of their systems now and go batter Madrid.

[Aventus]

Only 3 games left to play this season.

 

Win any one of them and we're guaranteed Champions League football next season.

[Bamo]

Kind of understand, but hell, we came through the qualifiers, were unbeaten till last night and have bested every one we came up against. Put it into perspective we are there on merit and it's been a hell of a ride. Celebrate that. Then you can have a nervous breakdown before the final!

[grazywalker]

Exactly how I felt and still feel. I was feeling bad for not feeling as excited as I thought I would.

 

[Jurgens Red Army]

Great report as always Dave, exactly how I felt as well.

[Bernard Diomede]

I think that 2 week break before the final is an absolute godsend for us, because there are a fair few there who look like they are running on fumes.

 

Spot on about the Basel final as well, I think thats the reason why I am far less ecstatic than I thought I would be. 

[sir roger]

Can't believe Dave asked Creator Supreme to write the game up for him.

[The Golden Eel]

I relaxed a good bit at the 2nd goal, that was huge, meaning we couldn't go out on away goals and that we were one away from being able to go through on away goals. That was a real settler for me last night. 

[The Guest]

I’ve had similar feelings about not getting too excited. For me it’s just apprehension about the final because we are better than Madrid. People can talk up that Madrid side all they want and name player for player who would and who wouldn’t get in their side from ours but as a team we are better than them and it would feel to me like a wasted opportunity if we don’t win it now.

 

If they were a better team then I think I would be more loose about it like what the fuck have we got to lose? Separately Milner was fucking great last night and along with Robertson I think he’s one of the most likeable players we’ve signed in a long time.

[RedHeadedRed]

I felt exactly the same way as well at full time. It's crazy I've never felt so annoyed after qualifying for a final. I think the occasion got to Trent a bit, this issue of fatigue is a big problem now no real options from the bench.... still though we've just qualified for the champions league final!

[DaveTucker]

Totally agree Dave, I was buzzing for days after we put City out and couldn't wait for the journey to continue. I'm already nervous as fuck about the final though.

[Dr Nowt]

The other thing is the fear of losing our 3rd overall final in a row, our 3rd European final in a row and Klopp’s 6th final in a row, particularly after this Buvac business and ahead of yet another ‘most crucial summer ever’.

 

There is a considerable monkey to get off our back, and losing this final would help it grow in size while tempering our hugely positive development with the ongoing narrative of being unable to get over the line.

 

All that said, personally for now I just want to try to embrace what we’ve done already this season and anticipate the final with the sense that anything can happen, very much including this being our year. If it is, it really will be lift-off for Klopp here.

 

What will be will be, from this point. The sick feelings in the stomach will be starting soon enough.

[sir roger]

As long as we get CL qualification before Kiev it has been a great season with the squad we have , don't really get the negativity. There are hundreds of clubs all over Europe who are envious of us whether we win or lose the final. Give or take thomsonsnose nobody gave us a chance to get this far so lets wallow in the achievement.

[Dave D]

I feel similar, its once bitten, twice shy and all that. I said to a Manc colleague at work, of course we would all have dreamed of being in the final at the start of the campaign, but part of me fears it as while a win would be orgasm inducing, each round you progress heightens the potential pain in defeat.

 

Fuck it, we'll stuff them.

 

Come on red men!  

[dockers_strike]

I think people just need to put last nights result into perspective. Theres this view that we collapsed again because that is what we do. But do not forget than real won 3-0 at Juve yet Juve very nearly overturned that score to take their game to extra time. only a last minute pen saved Real. Barcelona beat Roma 4-1 and Roma managed to put 3 past them in the second leg to go through on away goals. We were 5-2 up. I could go on about diabolical decisions etc but thats not the point. Roma clawed it back to 7-6 on aggregate. Even the so called experienced European teams have had big leads taken to the wire. I think perspective is needed a bit.

[Stickman]

If think for me I won't be able to relax until the league campaign is over and we've got that top four trophy . If we don't then it will be a massive downer on the players and fans before such a huge final.

Another major thing for me is the squad is looking very thin at the minute and any kind of injury to one or more of the front there or Van Djik and I think we're pretty fucked.

I guess if we can get fourth with no more injuries then I guess I can start looking forward to it.

Having said that it's still a fantastic achievement in that Klopp in less than three seasons has somehow managed to put us back at the top table of European football and that feels fucking great.

[Kevin D]

I don’t really know how to feel about this. Well obviously I know how I’m supposed to feel, it’s just that I don’t really feel that way. There are all kinds of different emotions going on right now and I’m still trying to process them. I feel more upbeat today than I did last night, but it’s a strange sensation when I see so many fellow Reds celebrating when I’m just not feeling it. We've just reached a Champions League final, why am I not on cloud nine? 

 

Don’t get me wrong, I’m massively excited about the final, but I didn’t feel like celebrating last night and even today I’m thinking more about the final itself than revelling in the joy of just getting there. I saw the scenes of joy and celebration around me in town last night, and I saw the jubilation in Rome from the players as they celebrated with the travelling fans (who were incredible), but I just felt a bit detached from it somehow. I didn’t know why, but having slept on it I think I do now. 

 

We’ve won nothing yet. Reaching the final is sound and that, but unless we win it means fuck all really. The pain of Athens still gnaws away at me and it took me months to get over the Europa League loss to Sevilla. I hated pretty much the entire squad for about nine months after that collapse, longer in the case of poor little Alberto. I’m pretty sure that’s why I feel the way I do today.

 

Previously when we’ve won big semi finals I’ve been as overjoyed as anyone (the two Chelsea ones were amazing), but this feels different. It’s all about the final now. We have to win it. I’m not saying we will win, or that we should be favourites to win it, or even that if we don’t win it we’re failures (depends on the performance really). 

 

I’m just saying that I won’t have any desire to celebrate until we do win it. That doesn’t mean I don’t recognise how well the lads have done to get there, and I’m made up for all of you who are ecstatic and celebrating it. I wish I felt that way too. I’m not saying it’s wrong to celebrate getting to the final as it’s not. These are moments to savour, and if anything I’m the one who’s wrong for not really feeling it. As I said though, I’m not really feeling that at all as the job isn’t done. 

 

That isn’t taking anything away from what the lads have done so far. They’ve been fantastic in this competition and even though this wasn’t the ideal way to book a place in the final, there are some mitigating circumstances for it I think. We were never in serious danger of blowing the lead and the final scoreline makes it look much more hairy than it actually was, but it should never have come to that. 

 

At no point did I ever think we were playing particularly well but we were doing enough and the first half was a good professional performance. At 2-1 it was all going according to plan and we were one goal away from completely ending it as had it gone to 7-3 on aggregate they’d have needed six. 

 

It sounds completely fucking bonkers to say this but four goals isn’t quite an unassailable lead for us. Not in this type of situation anyway. At 7-3 I wasn’t worried, of course I wasn’t, but the reason I wasn’t worried was because I thought we’d score again. Did I think it was possible we could concede four? Yeah. Unlikely, but not impossible. I thought we’d score again though so I was fine. A mate text to tell me he was still shitting himself and I said that’s because he’s a fanny. I had to text back and apologise at full time! 

 

How do we get ourselves into these mad situations? We were 5-0 up and Roma were begging for the final whistle. Who’d have imagined at that point that we would only end up going through by one goal, despite scoring two more in the away leg? It’s fucking mental really, especially as we did exactly what we needed to do in the first half. 

 This is just a teaser, click here to view the full report

 

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Buvac is gone, get over it.

[Bamo]

Anyone know how many teams that have had to qualify for the group stages have reached the final? Tried to Google it but was going to take ages

[aws]

Anyone know how many teams that have had to qualify for the group stages have reached the final? Tried to Google it but was going to take ages

Omen!

[index1000]

Anyone know how many teams that have had to qualify for the group stages have reached the final? Tried to Google it but was going to take ages

One. Us. Not that you would think so reading that shite.

[s(k)aturation]

Good work, Dave.

 

Real celebrated like they were Muhammad Ali after the Rumble in the Jungle when they got twatted 1-3 at home to Juventus in the previous round.

 

And you're right, it's because they're used to winning stuff.

 

May 26, our turn.

 

And hopefully, it's not the hope that will be killing all of us.