Our weekly Liverpool columnists react to Thursday’s Europa League win while discussing Sunday’s meeting with Manchester United
Liverpool’s quadruple hunt continued on Thursday evening after securing an 11-2 Europa League Round of 16 win at the expense of Sparta Prague.
Jurgen Klopp’s side found themselves four goals to the good inside the first quarter of an hour played at Anfield and will now take on Atalanta in the quarter-finals of the competition.
Attempting to keep hopes of claiming another trophy alive, the Reds will take on Manchester United on Sunday afternoon for the chance to advance to the semi-finals.
Looking ahead to this while discussing Thursday’s European success, four Liverpool supporters have shared their views as part of a weekly ECHO fan column.
It feels like we’re well and truly in dreamland as Liverpool supporters at the moment. To have cruised through into the Europa League quarter finals at Anfield against Sparta Prague and be so handily placed at the top of the league is more than we could have ever asked for at the start of the season. Of course, one more hurdle lies ahead before we can all relax for a weekend as the international break returns.
But for now, all roads lead to Old Trafford on Sunday. I’m going into this one completely optimistic and I believe it’s a no-brainer for Jurgen to go full strength for it. With 9000 Liverpool supporters in the away end, how good would it be to pile on the misery for the red side of Manchester and keep our own feel-good factor intact? These are the days: there’s not many more left under Klopp so saviour every last second of it.
What a magnificent performance it was last Sunday against Manchester City. What a febrile, frenetic atmosphere.
When an opposition player drops to the canvas, usually the aim is to stifle momentum. When City adopted this ruse on Sunday, much to their surprise, it did not halt momentum, it intensified it, as the Anfield decibels reached the outer regions of Manchester.
Pep Guardiola’s side were caught between a whirlpool created by the Anfield atmosphere and the sharp, cutting rocks of the Liverpool midfield.
Wataru Endo knocked Kevin De Bruyne off his balance during the midfield battle, so much so that the City talisman was hauled off, kicking and screaming. The surest sign you may think that Liverpool had obliterated the Sky Blues’ midfield.
While receiving some plaudits this year, Endo has not been given the same acclaim as Dominik Szoboszlai and Alexis Mac Allister, yet the Japan international has been instrumental in Klopp’s 2.0 team. Signed as a backup, he now resides at the front of the Liverpool charge.
Guardiola was accurate to describe the Anfield attack as like a tsunami. After another impressive display at home against Sparta Prague, the Great Wave of Liverpool is gaining momentum.
Another week down and Liverpool, in spite of the footballing gods, remains in all four competitions. After beating Sparta Prague 11-2 over two legs, we now face a Europa League quarter-final showdown with Atalanta. Another two matches on the calendar, another two to show this season isn’t a fluke. Whatever rebuild Jurgen Klopp had planned for this season, the results simply aren’t an anomaly. That, in fact, this Liverpool he hands over to his successor will remain a force in the coming decade.
But in the short-term, a challenge lies ahead: a visit to the crumbling heap of despair that is Old Trafford. Our kids, of course, will rise to the occasion again, just as they have in every other case. They’re gonna be alright. Some of our first-choice mainstays will contribute as well, acting as an anchor for Klopp’s kids as they continue to grow.
A win gives us another opportunity to continue this magical run, which is evermore special for the most obvious reason. But more importantly, the run continues to build for the future – a future without our talismanic manager and some of our ageing stars.
