Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
Liverpool Echo
Liverpool Echo
Sport
Richard Garnett

Liverpool seal remarkable Champions League double as Jurgen Klopp redefines 'normal'

It's March 2008 and I am walking down the street back home, having not long returned from Milan, where Rafa Benitez' Liverpool have won in the San Siro for the very first time.

The trip had resulted in two ultra-satisfying outcomes for this typical football romantic - a dream fulfilled by finally going to the stadium that captivated my imagination on the TV during Italia '90 and a famous win for the Reds that would surely be talked about for years to come.

The significance of beating old foe Inter was about to be brought into sharp focus by someone with less favourable memories of the Nerazzurri however.

Walking towards me at pace is time-served supporter John from the match day soccer bus and I'm about to cop for it.

"What the hell have you got around your neck?" enquires John.

READ MORE: Liverpool have last laugh over Diego Simeone jibes as Atletico Madrid face new reality

READ MORE: Diogo Jota injury latest after Jurgen Klopp confirms Liverpool absence

I have committed a crime. I am wearing an Internazionale scarf - a souvenir from my trip to Milan.

It dawns on me that John's grievance with my neck attire may be down to the only other occasion Liverpool had faced Inter in a competitive match.

In a game once described by my late father as the best he ever attended, Liverpool blew away Italian champions Inter 3-1 in a 1965 European Cup semi-final first leg, only to go on and lose the second leg 3-0 at the San Siro amid highly controversial circumstances.

The match was widely believed to have been fixed by Hungarian 'middle man' Dezso Solti, working closely with then Inter secretary Italo Allodi.

And despite that match being played 43 years prior to my encounter with veteran supporter John, it was clear that he hadn't forgotten about it.

"We would've have won the European Cup if it wasn't for them. They robbed us of it and I'm never going to forgive them for it. Take it off," commanded John before storming off in a huff.

Lesson learned.

Knowing the history of that niggling injustice made Liverpool's 1-0 triumph in 2008, courtesy of a lovely Fernando Torres goal, a special occasion to remember. A significant moment in the club's rich European history.

So why when this current Liverpool team returns to the San Siro and wins twice against both Milan teams in the same season - the only team to beat the pair at home this campaign - does that achievement not rank right up there with the club's great European triumphs?

Italian football may not be the powerhouse that it once was, but AC Milan are top of Serie A and Inter are the champions.

The simple answer seems to be that Jurgen Klopp has created a team so powerful, experienced and talented that results like this are simply now seen as the norm.

Former Liverpool defender Dominic Matteo holds god-like status with Leeds supporters, after scoring for United against AC Milan in the 2000/01 Champions League Group Stage at the San Siro, but in a couple of weeks time people will have forgotten who scored for Liverpool against Inter on Wednesday night, so routine has such a result become.

Klopp's record of going the distance in European competition gives him as high a pedigree as any other boss in the game.

He may be 'the normal one', but there is nothing normal about this manager and his side.

While catching Manchester City in the Premier League, at present, still looks like a long shot, there is no reason why a seventh European Cup can't be a heading to Anfield at the end of May, if the Reds continue to perform in European competition like they have been all season.

Before the commencement of this week's Champions League fixtures, Bayern Munich were listed by bookies as second favourites to become the eventual winners behind City.

If we could see into the future there would be no purpose for bookmakers, but if Liverpool were to draw Bayern in a subsequent round I wouldn't be backing the Germans to go through.

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.