Iconic Moments in Football No.89
This week’s Iconic Moment comes from the second leg of the 2019 Champions League Semi Final between Liverpool and Barcelona.
Barcelona had won the first leg at the Nou Camp 3-0, giving Liverpool a huge task to try and comeback and progress to the Final. No one expected them to overcome Barcelona, who had won four of the last five La Liga titles and boasted some of the world’s greatest players.
European nights at Anfield are well-known for being dramatic and with their fervent fan base, anything was possible. But surely beating the mighty Barcelona by four goals was just too much to ask?
Incredibly, Liverpool managed it and won the match 4-0, progressing to the final with a 4-3 aggregate win. Belgian striker Divock Origi opened the scoring after just seven minutes with a tap-in from six yards out, before Gio Wijnaldum scored twice in three frantic second half minutes to level the aggregate score.
In the 79th minute, Liverpool forced a corner at The Kop End. Some incredibly quick thinking from right back Trent Alexander-Arnold helped to give Liverpool a 4-0 lead and complete their remarkable comeback.
The young Englishman stood over the ball as he waited to take the corner. He then took a few steps onto the pitch, looking as if he was leaving the kick to be taken by his team-mate Xherdan Shaqiri who was walking towards him.
Alexander-Arnold had no intention of leaving the kick and suddenly turned back towards the ball and swept it into the box. Divock Origi, scorer of the first Liverpool goal, reacted equally as fast and fired the ball past Marc-Andre ter Stegen in the Barcelona goal.
The quick-thinking from the Liverpool right back was the sole reason that the goal was scored. The assist made the goal as it would have been much harder to score with all of the Barcelona defence in position. It goes down as one of the cleverly worked goals in Liverpool’s history.
Liverpool beat Tottenham Hotspur 2-0 in the Final to lift the Champions League for the second time. They had won the same trophy four times before, when it was known as the European Cup.
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