As Liverpool prepare for the Champions League final against Real Madrid in Paris, it’s safe to say the season couldn’t have gone much better for them. With a domestic double already clinched, the Reds will be looking to make it a cup treble against the La Liga giants, having fallen just a point short of Man City in their pursuit of an unprecedented quadruple.
Whatever the outcome on Saturday, it has been an historic season for Jurgen Klopp ’s side. And what makes their efforts even more memorable are the fact that little over a year ago, having seen season-ending defensive injuries derail their Premier League title defence, they were staring down the possibility of failing to qualify for the Champions League altogether.
Nat Phillips was central to that revival. Eighth in the table after 28 matches, Liverpool went unbeaten for their final 10 games of the season, winning all eight that the defender started, to finish the season in what had previously looked an unlikely third.
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Despite his efforts, with Virgil van Dijk, Joel Matip and Joe Gomez back from injury last pre-season and Ibrahima Konate snapped up from RB Leipzig in a £36m deal, he played just three times during the first half of the Reds’ quadruple-chasing season before joining AFC Bournemouth on loan in January. But when Liverpool clinched their place in the Champions League final by overcoming Villarreal at the start of this month, the same night the Cherries won promotion to the Premier League, Phillips’ role was not lost on Klopp as he congratulated the defender in his post-match press conference with the 25-year-old one of the very first people he texted after the game.
“It says a lot about him. It was a really nice surprise,” Phillips said in an exclusive interview with the ECHO. “Quite a few of the Bournemouth lot mentioned it as well. It shows what he’s like as a manager and what he’s like to work for and why he gets so much out of the players because that is how he’ll treat you as a player and as a person.
“It was a nice surprise and nice to know that he was keeping an eye out for what was going on at Bournemouth, even though he had such a big game of his own on his mind. It was nice of him to mention me and Rhys (Williams) and give us a bit of credit for contributing to the journey.
“At the end of my career, I’ll look back on it with a lot of pride. But from my side, especially since I left on loan, it’s been more watching from a distance, supporting from a distance and being happy for the guys, the players and the staff, and wishing success for them.
“His text message was initially just congratulating me on the promotion. Even that, I was surprised to receive that to be honest because I was aware he had a big game that evening.
“I was surprised that it had even crossed his mind that I had that game. I said, “Likewise to you guys for getting to the final.” In response to that, he just said, “You played a big part in that.” It was really nice to hear and nice of him to say that. It’s something I can be proud of.
“It was funny as well because after that he showed he was watching, it must have been a replay, our game vs Forest. He’d actually sat down after the semi-final with his staff to either watch the full game or highlights.
“I said, “There’s not much of me to see in that game because I didn’t have a great deal to do!””
While Klopp might be aware Liverpool might not even have competed in this season’s Champions League, never mind the final, were it not for the role of Phillips and defensive partner Rhys Williams last season, the 25-year-old is rather more humble about his involvement. And in truth, he finds such suggestions rather embarrassing.
“It’s nice now to see that they’ve got to the final,” he said. “At the time when we were working so hard and managed to come out of that tough phase and end up qualifying for the Champions League, so we were happy with that.
“It wasn’t the goal we were aiming for at the start of the season but towards the end, it was something we could be happy with, and now looking where it has progressed to, even more so.
“Rhys and I have had a lot of praise and appreciation from the fans, but whenever I see it I feel a little embarrassed. You’ve got to remember there was nine other players on the teamsheet other than us and then the entire squad who put an unbelievable shift in, and all the staff, to make sure we qualified for the Champions League.
“Rhys and I got a bit more praise and noticed a bit more because we were the new lads who had to come in. But all the other guys who were playing and contributed played a huge part in getting the club to qualify for the Champions League and, as a result, getting to the final now.”
He continued: “Anytime the club reaches a final and there’s an opportunity for success, I’m delighted for the club and delighted for all the staff and my team-mates. I see all the work that goes into it.
“Yes, I played a bit of a hand in helping them qualify for the Champions League and alright, I played in the game against AC Milan, but we were already out the group-stages by then, and I came on for about 20 seconds against Atletico Madrid and didn’t get a kick. So I wouldn’t say I played a huge role.
“The players who are there at the moment, who have done unbelievably well throughout the whole campaign to get to the final. So the feeling is I’m happy for them.”
Reflecting on his partnership with Williams, Phillips believes the fact that both players were in similar situations, having been thrown in the deep end under immense pressure with limited experience, helped them step up when it mattered most. And he admits despite the difficulties Liverpool were facing when he thrown into the starting XI, deep down he was always confident the Reds would finish in the top four.
“In a way for Rhys and me it worked nicely because we were both going through the same thing together,” he said. “Having been thrown in and having to perform and play at that level, with those expectations on us where neither of us would really have anticipated it at the start of the season.
“There’s a fair amount of pressure to deal with and you’re also desperate to do well for your own benefit and for your team-mates and the staff as well because you know they’re relying on you so you want to do well for them. We were both going through that together and that probably helped our partnership.
“It just meant we could communicate well with each other, we could help each other and we were just desperate to work well together and do a job in order to do the club, the fans, our team-mates and the staff proud.
“It was a difficult time for the club. Everyone is different and everyone can gather motivation from different areas. For me, one of the areas I wanted to gain motivation from and I knew that I could was that it felt like people were writing us off a bit, that we wouldn’t be able to get Champions League football.
“It’s nice to try and prove people wrong. As a team as well, there were probably a few other lands in the dressing room who wanted to do that as well.”
He continued: “There was all sorts of things going on and it was a bit of a weird one. We were frustrated that we were having such bad luck with the injuries and felt gutted for the lads who were injured.
“It felt like we couldn’t catch a break when all that was happening and the results weren’t going our way either. It was a frustrating time but I still felt during the whole process quietly confident that we could still qualify.
“I don’t know if the other guys did as well but, knowing what the mentality is like within that squad, I would have thought a lot of guys felt the same, that we were still capable. At the time I did a few post-match interviews and after every good result when we hit that good run, people were saying, “Can you do it?” The attitude in my answers was that we were concentrating on the next game and winning the next game.
“We were fully aware that if we won all our remaining games then we would have a good chance of qualifying. It was just churning the games out, ticking them off one by one and getting the three points as it came. There was an intense focus in the atmosphere.
“I can’t put my finger on what changed to be honest. I think we had a couple of games where we’d not played amazingly but got the result. Prior we probably had the other problem where we dominated a few games but not got the result.
“I think when you get those results when you know you’ve not played amazingly but are still winning, then you know things are starting to go your way. The other side was throughout the year, Rhys and I were gathering confidence and probably gathering confidence and that ability to feel comfortable in that situation because it was obviously a new exposure and experience for both of us really.
“By that stage of the season, we’d shaken off that feeling of it feeling new and felt more confident, comfortable and settled. But I couldn’t really put my finger on exactly what it was that changed, I’m just grateful that it did.”
As Liverpool finished last season strongly, one game will always stand out to fans as the turning point where they believed they would qualify for the Champions League after all, and Phillips is no different.. West Bromwich Albion away. With the game heading into stoppage-time and the scores level at 1-1, goalkeeper Alisson Becker was the unlikely match-winner at the Hawthorns, barging the centre-back out of the way to score a thunderous header.
“The one that stands out and the one when the emotion came pouring out of me, I was so elated and ecstatic, was when Alisson scored at West Brom. The way the game was going, it felt worrying. You could just see the time ticking away.
“You’re thinking we’ve got to get something and are desperately looking for where it would come from. Sure enough Alisson steps up and nods one in, and he managed to nudge me out of the way in the process!”
While beating West Brom in such a way might have provided the highest of highs for the Liverpool dressing room, it was a different story when they last faced Real Madrid in the Champions League quarter-finals last season. Phillips started both legs as the Reds lost 3-1 on aggregate, but did manage to help Klopp’s men keep a clean sheet at Anfield.
And while the exit was particularly painful, especially at a time when it looked like Liverpool might fail to qualify for the following season, the occasion is one Phillips now looks back upon, facing off against Ballon d’Or-chasing Karim Benzema, with great pride.
“The away day wasn’t a good day or a fond memory that I look back on with a smile on my face,” he said. “To play in a match of that size against a team with that history is something special, but the way that day went was a tough one.
“That said, we still felt we were in it and we still felt we were capable of turning it around in the home leg. We did play well in the home leg and did create chances. We kept a clean sheet as well which was important, but we just couldn’t quite get the goals in that game.
“That’s a game where I look back, and I’ve seen it back and seen my performance, and I’m happy with how I played. To have kept a clean sheet against Real Madrid and to have played well in that game is certainly something I do, and in future will, look back on with pride, even though the result didn’t go the way we wanted to and we didn’t progress.
“That evening I certainly didn’t feel like that, I was gutted and still was in the days after. But as time passed and more time passes, it’s something I can feel more proud about rather than concentrating on the fact we didn’t progress.”
He continued: “I remember watching the clips (of Benzema) before and watching how he played. I knew that in the build-up phase, he limited himself to one and two touches in general. He’d drop it off then look to run in behind and get in the box.
“When the ball was in and around the box, that’s when he’d come to life. For me, I quite like defending the box and I knew that would be a real test. His movement is very elusive. He does a good job at losing himself from your eye-line.
“You had to be switched on constantly, you had to always be looking and tracking where he was. If you took your eye off him for a second, he could find space and finish. He did it a few times but it didn’t quite land for him.
“It was a real eye-opening experience for me, to see how high the level is with a striker like himself who can find a yard and lose himself from you in a split-second. But I enjoyed the battle, I enjoyed playing against him and I enjoy testing myself against the best players.”
Benzema isn’t the only big-name striker Phillips has had the opportunity to test himself against during his time at Liverpool, with the defender also coming up against Zlatan Ibrahimovic earlier this season. Starting at the San Siro as the Reds’ progressed to the Champions League knock-out stages with an 100% winning record, the match is the defender’s last for the club to date and certainly one he won’t forget in a hurry, having ended up with a fractured cheek.
“I think the way the game ended was with me with a broken cheek so when you talk about a physical battle, I think he probably came out on top there,” Phillips chuckled. “Going into the game, I was looking forward to it. He’s had an unbelievable career and has great experience.
“I enjoy playing against the better players and the bigger names. I want to test myself against those players and he was a real test. He’s one of the biggest and strongest players I’ve come up against for sure, and technical ability, you don’t really lose that so he still had all of that. But I felt Ibou and I dealt well with him and kept him pretty quiet.”
Despite the injury, Phillips also had the last laugh against Ibrahimovic as Liverpool ran out 2-1 winners, with him gliding past the Swede with a memorable Cruyff turn in his own penalty area which quickly went viral. Naturally, the centre-back plays down the viral piece of skill, insisting it probably looks better than it was and that he had no idea how impressive it looked until hearing a very excitable reaction from Ibrahima Konate, before seeing his phone bombarded with messages and notifications after the final whistle.
“To be honest I wasn’t aware at all. I think it looks a lot better on video than it felt at the time,” he said. “ Only after the game when I’m getting sent the video hundreds of times from friends and family have I realised how nice it went.
“It wasn’t like, before the move, I thought I’m going to do something special here. It was just instinct. I’ve gone to smash it out of play because it was a bit of a sticky situation and I had to deal with the danger, but as I pulled my leg back, he’s sold himself for the block a bit too early.
“Just through instinct, from playing the game so long and all our training, I didn’t have to think. My body just did it for me and I rolled the ball on the turn. If I did hit it, he might have blocked it and I knew he wasn’t going to change direction because he was already in the air.
“At the time I didn’t see Kessie go past me as well, it was only after when I saw the video. The Ibou’s reaction cracked me, you should have heard the noise he made! I knew it must have been good after that reaction, because I could hear him screaming!”
While Phillips is proud of his role in helping Liverpool qualify for the Champions League this season, he is happier seeing the Reds ‘return to normal’ this year and be competing for the highest honours. And while he’s not eligible to play in this year’s final, he’ll be in Paris cheering on his team-mates as they look to win the treble.
“Liverpool is a club with huge aspirations and high standards,” he said. “It’s trophies they’re interested in, a Champions League spot isn’t really a goal for a club like Liverpool, it’s a given.
“That’s what is expected because that is the level of the club and the standards that are required. At one stage it did look like they might not have been able to achieve it and we went on a good run to achieve it.
“We were happy to secure Champions League football but it doesn’t compare to winning Champions Leagues, Premier Leagues, FA Cups and Carabao Cups.
“Yes, I will be there in Paris. I’m really looking forward to it. We’re lucky to get to go to these games. I went to Madrid and Kiev, and now Paris.
“I’m so fortunate to be in a position where I can go and watch these games and go and support the lads. To see this standard of football and these moments first hand, I can’t wait for it.”
