IN their long awaited return to Europe’s top table, Liverpool ultimately fell at the final hurdle.
Two horrific Loris Karius errors and a piece of sheer individual brilliance from Gareth Bale wrote the headlines in a 3-1 loss that saw Real Madrid seal their third straight Champions League title.
“Ultimately, though, the difficult truth for Liverpool, and the tragic Karius, is that two of the goals they conceded were almost beyond comprehension,” Daniel Taylor wrote in The Guardian.
“And how many times has Jürgen Klopp been warned this team risks being undermined by the lack of an elite goalkeeper?”
Ironically, it was Liverpool’s well documented Achilles heel that proved their undoing in Kiev, as recently confirmed No. 1 Karius proceeded to make Jurgen Klopp look foolish for trusting the keeper instead of foraying into the transfer market for a suitable replacement.
The Reds’ attacking quality, midfield pressure and improved defensive structure since the arrival of Virgil van Dijk counted for little as the man between the sticks gifted Europe’s most feared side the title.
“It seemed even crueller still that the final image of Mo Salah’s joyful season should be the sight of the Premier League player of the year leaving the pitch in tears with half an hour gone,” wrote The Guardian’s Barney Ronay.
Of course, it was equally as pivotal that the Merseysiders played two thirds of their most important match of the season sans talisman Mohamed Salah. The Egyptian’s evening ended by a Sergio Ramos challenge – but did the Real skipper intend to cause harm to his opponent? We will never know.
Ronay describes the challenge, “In slow motion it looked like an expert secret service judo move, the kind of thing you spend three years learning to pull off in a camp in the Swiss Alps, along wth the blow dart to the neck and the sword-stick umbrella jab”.
Others point to the disparity on the benches as the clear differentiator in quality which eventually was too great for the Reds to overcome.
“But belief only goes so far and perhaps it should be no surprise that the game’s outstanding moment of quality came from someone in a Madrid shirt,” writes Sky Sports’ Adam Bate.
“While Klopp could only turn to Adam Lallana, a player with one Premier League start to his name this past season, Zidane threw on Gareth Bale with the scores level and it was the Welshman who won the game.”
But alas it was Karius whose mind boggling incompetence will live long in the memories of Reds fans, with his errors severe enough for The Telegraph’s Paul Hayward to call for him to be “protect[ed] from the ravages of remorse”.
Hayward adds; “Mistakes like the ones Loris Karius made here have the power to ruin people’s lives”.
This was, after all, one of the biggest European matches in decades, and the German stopper essentially signed sealed and delivered it at the door of a side that stands alone as the Champions League’s greatest ever. But are they history’s best ever?
“Is this the greatest club side of all time? For my money, no. But this is certainly one of the greatest ever achievements by any club ever,” wrote Football365’s Matt Stead.
“Real Madrid had to win in Paris, Turin, Bayern and in what had essentially the atmosphere of an away game in Kiev to complete the perfect hat-trick. Four Champions League trophies in five seasons should not be possible in the modern day, and yet here we are.”
The magnitude of Real’s historic triumph is exceedingly difficult to quantitate, but in anyone’s book, four continental title wins in five years is enough to at least enter the realms of immortality.
But for Liverpool, the heartache is real, and it shapes as yet another disappointing development in a recent history which has provided its fair share of tribulation.
“For Liverpool, there was a painful sense of deja vu. Another tale of final woe. Another major prize eluding them. Another barrel-load of regrets,” wrote James Pearce in Merseyside’s top local paper the Liverpool Echo.
Fans are the lifeblood of Liverpool Football Club, and in Kiev they turned out in their droves to watch their team regain their rightful place among the European elite.
“But they could only sit and watch as their dreams were crushed by embarrassing errors. By the closing stages, ‘Allez Allez Allez’ had made way for a solemn yet defiant rendition of ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone’,” assessed Pearce somewhat poetically.
But after a frustrating conclusion to what has been a joyful and dominant campaign, where does this leave the Reds? Are they back for good? Or can we expect a meek follow up in the coming years?
“Liverpool being in the final, and securing Champions League football next season whatever the outcome validates Klopp’s claim the club is mixing with European royalty again,” surmised Chris Bascombe of The Telegraph.
While Bate added that Klopp has steered the once dominant juggernaut back to a state of ‘belonging at the top table’.
“Liverpool belong at the top table again, Champions League not Europa League. And while Klopp spoke beforehand of his tactics being designed ‘to bring a better opponent to your level’ there are not many capable of playing at Liverpool’s level anymore. They looked ready. They look prepared. Just not quite prepared for everything.”