“I said to the boys before the game, I would actually say it’s impossible. But because it’s you, I say we have a chance.”
After witnessing his Liverpool side pull off the greatest of comebacks when defeating Barcelona 4-0 at Anfield in the Champions League semi-finals back in 2019, Jurgen Klopp famously made his pre-match dressing room message to his squad public knowledge after the final whistle.
Having lost 3-0 at Camp Nou, braces from Divock Origi and Gini Wijnaldum would send the Reds onto Madrid for the Champions League final. There they would beat Tottenham Hotspur 2-0 to become champions of Europe for the sixth time, before going on to win every major honour on offer to them in the years that followed. But you already know all that.
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“I watched in my life so many football games and I never, I can’t remember a lot like this,” Klopp told BT Sport four years ago. “You play against maybe the best team in the world. It’s not allowed to concede and you have to score.
“Winning is already difficult, but winning with a clean sheet. I don’t know how the boys did it. It was incredible, how we defended.
“It’s 10 past 10. Most the children are probably in bed but these boys are f*****g mentality giants. It’s unbelievable, it’s unbelievable. Fine me, if you want! I am not native, I don’t have better words for it.
“It’s unbelievable. They are mentality giants. It’s just not possible.”
Four years on and Liverpool are facing Spanish giants again, though this time it’s Real Madrid. Reigning champions of Europe, having beaten Klopp’s men in last year’s final, they are also champions of the world, even if not the obvious ‘best team in the world’.
Locking horns in the round-of-16, again the Reds find themselves trailing by three goals and needing a miracle comeback. Yet now boasting an ageing squad at the end of its cycle, the Reds are ‘mentality giants’ no longer.
Normally you’d argue if any side could recover such circumstances against the odds, then it’s Liverpool. But this season, such a side has not existed at Anfield with their 1-0 defeat to struggling AFC Bournemouth on Saturday only the latest example of that as they continue to meander through transition.
At least when the Reds overcame Barcelona, they could call upon elite stars at the peak of their powers and on the verge of greatness, along with a famous Anfield European night. Now, having seen the same, now declining, heroes embarrassed 5-2 at their famous home by Real Madrid last month, Liverpool enter the cauldron of the Bernabeu looking to achieve the impossible.
“I think Carlo thinks the tie is over,” Klopp would admit after that hefty loss. “And I think it as well, in the moment, but in three weeks? That’s how it is in these moments.
“The closer it gets to the game, the bigger our chances become and the less likely it is that the tie is over. But tonight with 5-2 and you see the game.
“They are pretty good with counter-attacking, we have to score their three goals, so take some risks. That could be a bit tricky. But it’s really not in my mind.
“So we go there, I can say that we are out already, and try to win the game. If that’s possible or not, I don’t know now but that is what we will try. We will see.”
Little over a week ago, having thrashed Manchester United 7-0 at Anfield, Klopp would have perhaps dared to believe ‘we have a chance’. But that loss at the Vitality Stadium will have opened Reds eyes further to this year’s ugly reality and left them even more deflated. This time they need more than a miracle.
With the ‘away goals’ ruling no longer in place, Liverpool’s European plight is perhaps not as fragile as it was in 2019. But they still face the most uphill battle just to force-extra time at the Bernabeu, never mind win.
Real Madrid trailed Paris Saint-Germain 2-0 on aggregate in last year's round-of-16, with 30 minutes left at the Bernabeu, before a Karim Benzema hat-trick earned progression against the odds. Meanwhile, against Chelsea in the quarter-finals, they trailed 4-3 on aggregate with 15 minutes remaining, despite winning the first leg 3-1 at Stamford Bridge, before a late Rodrygo strike forced extra-time. Their veteran French striker then struck again to snatch another unlikely victory from the claws of defeat in front of the Spanish giants’ own fans.
Yet Madrid saved their best until last for the semi-finals. Trailing 5-3 on aggregate to Man City as the clock struck the 90th minute at the Bernabeu, Rodrygo scored a dramatic brace to force extra-time before a Benzema penalty sealed their place in Paris.
All three away sides would score at the Bernabeu and lead their respective ties on aggregate at one point or another in Spain. What Liverpool would do to just be offered such an opportunity themselves right now as they already stare down the barrel of defeat.
It didn’t matter that Real Madrid led for just 181 minutes across 600 minutes of knock-out Champions League football last season. In front of their home fans, they always find a way. And in Paris, with the aptly-named referee Clement Turpin overseeing proceedings after such a dramatic run to the final, they were crowned champions of Europe once again.
If a Reds side that had been chasing an unprecedented quadruple could not topple Carlo Ancelotti’s men in Paris, what chance does this poor Liverpool imitation possibly have?
“I would actually say it’s impossible. But because it’s you, I say we have a chance,” Klopp said back in 2019. That comeback is made even more remarkable when you consider the Reds lost Andy Robertson to injury at half-time and were already without Mohamed Salah and Roberto Firmino.
Alisson, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Joel Matip, Virgil van Dijk, Andy Robertson, Jordan Henderson, Fabinho, and James Milner all started that Barcelona victory, with Joe Gomez on the bench, as Salah famously turned up to support his team-mates donning a 'Never Give Up' shirt'. At least the experience of such comebacks is still present in Klopp's ranks and Liverpool definitely won't give up.
But this time it looks like a challenge too far, even for the, admittedly wounded, Reds. Perhaps the fact that the aforementioned players are all still so prominent at Anfield four years on, even if Henderson will miss the trip to Spain through illness, perhaps tells its own story and explains Liverpool's lost mentality. Giants no more, they are very much the David to Madrid's Goliath and stand next to no chance of Champions League progression.
Having thought the tie was over after the final whistle at Anfield, a penny for Klopp's honest thoughts three weeks on, on the eve of Wednesday night’s game. If he really thinks his side has a chance, especially after that Bournemouth loss, then he’ll be in the minority. But if Liverpool are to stand any chance of the most unlikely comeback, they have to be fearless when they travel to Spain and truly believe they can achieve the impossible as others write them off.
Chelsea at least offer some form of inspiration. Despite their 3-1 home defeat to Madrid, they took a 3-0 lead at the Bernabeu in the 75th minute to turn the tie on its head. It’s not impossible to go there and score.
Yet their aggregate lead lasted just five minutes as their admirable efforts ended in failure. As demonstrated by how easily Madrid eradicated the Reds’ own early 2-0 lead at Anfield last month, these Spanish giants just don’t feel setbacks.
“We never say never,” Trent Alexander-Arnold would tell the ECHO earlier this month when addressing the possibility of an unlikely comeback at the Bernabeu. Unless it's 'Never Give Up,' evidently! If Liverpool pull this off, it will be their greatest ever comeback.
The only problem is, when it comes to ‘never saying never,’ neither do Real Madrid.
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