Liverpool 4 Borussia Dortmund 3: Jurgen Klopp’s side pull off one of the all-time great European comebacks to reach Europa League semis
Germans were going through on away goals before Reds came back from 3-1 down to win
UNTIL now nobody quite realised how special those Europa League ties on a Thursday night can be.
One day the enormous scale of Liverpool’s achievement will sink in because this was one of the most memorable matches in their rich history.
The go-to games for Liverpool fans are Stevie G’s famous winner against Olympiakos in 2004 and the comeback in Istanbul the following May.
This one, after the most improbable win at Anfield, has to be right up there. The day Jurgen Klopp completed his journey from yellow to red.
This famous old stadium shook when Dejan Lovren towered above Borussia Dortmund’s defence to head beyond Roman Weidenfeller in added time.
Liverpool are in the Europa League semi-finals — and know that lifting this trophy would provide a passport to the Champions League, where a club with this history and pedigree really belongs.
Klopp has stopped the players from touching the famous ‘This is Anfield’ sign on the way out because they have yet to win anything. That could change because they now have nothing to fear.
Perhaps the greatest tribute to Klopp is that Liverpool always came back for more. They never quite knew when the game was up.
The Kop manager said: “This is a place for special stories and we are trying to write a few.”
This, unquestionably, is make-believe.
For Klopp to do it against his former club, where he won two Bundesliga titles and reached the Champions League final in 2013, takes on added significance.
At the final whistle, when the old place was bedlam, it was impossible to take your eyes off his demented pitch side celebrations.
In the stands they remained transfixed, wondering quite how Liverpool had recovered from 2-0 down inside nine minutes to win it in injury-time.
It will certainly take some explaining and even Klopp was not quite sure how they managed it. All that counts is that they did.
To come back from 2-0 down after nine minutes, and 3-1 down when Marco Reus scored a pearler in the 57th minute, is extraordinary.
Borussia Dortmund’s classy coach Thomas Tuchel claimed: “We cannot be champions, but we must behave like champions."
What a charming thing to say because Dortmund were by far the better team. They just did not have an answer to Liverpool’s spirit.
Even when Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang put Dortmund two goals to the good, Liverpool refused to give up.
That nine-minute spell at the start was bewitching.
Mkhitaryan netted the opener on five minutes after Simon Mignolet had done fantastically well to parry Aubameyang’s shot. The pass Reus played for Aubameyang to rifle Dortmund’s second was ball-of-the-century stuff.
In the end, this turned out to be the match of the century.
Divock Origi fired Liverpool back into it on 48 minutes, with a cool finish.
But when Reus, Dortmund’s outstanding performer, scored the third after 57 minutes this should have been done and dusted. By then, Liverpool needed four.
Mats Hummels, usually noted for his defensive work, turned creator when Liverpool allowed him the freedom of the place to advance through their midfield.
He fed Reus with the killer pass and this Dortmund tease inched his way towards Mignolet and beat him with a shot that bent beyond the reach of Liverpool’s keeper.
The mother of all comebacks began when Philippe Coutinho scored in the 66th minute after a clever exchange with skipper James Milner on the edge of the Dortmund area.
DREAM TEAM RATINGS
LIVERPOOL: Mignolet 6, Clyne 7, Moreno 7, Lovren 8, Sakho 8, Can 8 (Lucas 80, 5), STAR MAN MILNER 9, Lallana 6 (Allen 62, 6), Firmino 7 (Sturridge 62, 5), Coutinho 8, Origi 8. Subs not used: Ward, Skrtel, Smith, Ojo.
DORTMUND: Weidenfeller 5, Piszcek 6, Sokratis 5, Hummels 6, Schmelzer 6, Weigl 7, Castro 7 (Gundogan 82, 6), Mkhitaryan 7, Kagawa 6 (Ginter 77, 5), Reus 7 (Ramos 83, 5), Aubameyang 7. Subs not used: Burki, Pulisic, Sahin, Bender. Booked: Hummels, Piszczek, Schmelzer.
(Dream Team ratings are compiled using Opta data)
It sent anxiety shooting through those yellow shirts, full of fear as the Kop demanded a special finish to this quarter-final, second leg. They got it.
It was done at a belting pace, with Liverpool appearing increasingly desperate as the seconds ticked down on that old digital scoreboard.
They snatched at everything, with Klopp demanding more from the fans in the stands by constantly thrusting his arms into the air.
Later on, after Lovren’s winner, he was punching it.
Mamadou Sakho headed the 78th-minute equaliser beyond Weidenfeller from Coutinho’s corner.
That made it 4-4 on aggregate — but the Germans would still go through on away goals. Liverpool poured forward and, one minute into added time, they were rewarded with the winner.
Sub Daniel Sturridge fed Milner, and when his cross found Lovren inside the area, the big Croatian defender headed beyond Weidenfeller to spark utter bedlam.
Three minutes later came the final whistle and every Liverpool supporter was staring at those players in disbelief. Soon enough, they will be back here for more.