It is pretty hard to find the words and talk about what happened today. I’ve never done anything like this on the blog and for those who don’t like my partiality, I am sorry. But I feel that talking about this team and these players will make me feel better. I hope it will.
It was a great journey to get to this point and I will forever cherish the memories that these fans, these players, this manager and this club me. I will tell the story of this season to my future children, a story of how a team surrounded by unbelief, managed to exceed all the expectations and remind everybody that we are one of the biggest teams in the world. The end of the story isn’t happy, it’s one that ends with tears and emotional pain. But it happened and things always happen for a reason.
Today, the story might be about defeat. But surely, somewhere in the future, the story will be about glory.
I will always remember the atmosphere our fans brought to every game we played. From Anfield to Moscow, from Manchester to Kiev, we were there and made our presence count. It was magnificent, a lesson on how to support your team with all your heart and love. I will always remember this and with love and gratitude.
I will always remember the goal Trent Alexander-Arnold scored on his Champions League debut against Hoffenheim, a goal that announced one of the most promising players to the world. I will always remember that great goal Emre Can scored after one of the best counter-attacks I’ve seen in the return leg against the Germans.
The demolition against Maribor that broke records. How we managed to qualify in first place in our group with a 7-0 win against Spartak Moscow, who were Russian champions. How we were unbelievable attacking, it was like a blitzkrieg, we were just running riot.
The win against Porto away from home in the round of 16. It wasn’t any win, it was another destruction, with the game ending 5-0, Sadio Mane scoring a hat-trick and booking our place in the quarter-finals on our return to Europe.
A big one against Manchester City in the last eight. We were facing one of the best teams in Europe and we beat them convincingly. Three goals in the first-half, with Mo being decisive once again, Ox scoring a scream and Sadio Mane heading home from a Mo cross and giving us an incredible lead to take to the Etihad.
How brave we were when visiting Manchester City. We were under immense pressure, it was a very tense game for the players, for the manager and for the fans. Once again, we defied the odds and won at their home, with Bobby and Mo scoring.
The first-leg against Roma was unbelievable. Yes, I’ve watched from Brazil and of course I wasn’t at Anfield, but even so many miles away, I felt the atmosphere and it was rocking, it still gives goosebumps. It was an almost perfect performance, playing attacking football once again, breathtaking and untouchable football. We scored five goals past an opposition that were decent defending, we destroyed them.
The game at Stadio Olimpico was so special. We visited a place where we raised the trophy once and our chances of getting to the final were so big. Just like every place we went this season, you could see a sea of red. Allez Allez Allez rocking around the stadium, the excitement on the face of the fans. We lost the game but we were back, Liverpool were back in the Champions League final and the whole world knew it.
And we get to today. As I said before, it is pretty hard for me to find to words to talk about this game. It just hurts so much that we’ve come so far and for a series of unlucky events, we lost. Our start was brilliant, we were attacking Madrid and annoying them, they were so annoyed.
Then the turning point came. I really, really hope that Ramos didn’t have the intention to take Mo off the game and I understand how everybody feels. The challenge was dirty, unresponsible and incautious and Ramos should’ve at least received a yellow card. Mo is our best player and the impact on the team after he went off was visible.
The way Mo went off is sad. He gave everything for this team the whole season, he is our king, our idol, he means a lot to every one of us. Seeing him crying was just too heartbreaking for me and I expect the other fans to feel the same way. It is a scene that I don’t even like to remember, it makes me sad immediately.
I need to talk about Mo now. I always had faith in him, since day one from his arrival. It might have looked too much money for a player that had difficult time when he played in the Premier League, but I’ve always had faith in him.
He is not just a player that scored 44 goals this season. Yes, he is an idol for me by doing that, it is still unbelievable to think. But Mo united every one of us, not just Liverpool fans, but football fans around the world. In days with so much intolerance, Mo united people from different religions, beliefs and races. We should be thankful for his goals, but we should NEVER forget the impact he had on the world as a person.
Coming back to the game. Karius was the main figure on the night, nobody can deny. His mistakes gave Madrid the win. But we should not forget that Loris is human and humans make mistakes. The hate I’ve seen towards him is completely unnecessary and the people who say these things towards him should be ashamed. It is humanly impossible to not feel sorry for Loris, we should remember that he didn’t do that on purpose, it was a mistake and mistakes happen. What the fans should do is stand behind him in this difficult moment.
I am pretty sure that the players feel the same that we are feeling. It might be even worse for them. They ran to the limit, they gave everything and those who didn’t see it are possibly blind. We got there as a team, football is about collectiveness. And when we lose, it should also be as a team, this is how it works.
These players and this manager are unbelievable, they are my heroes. I feel so proud of this team, we reached a point that nobody expected us to reach. We played the best football I’ve seen Liverpool play and this will continue until Klopp is our manager. We lost this final but we keep our heads up high with proud.
We were unlucky to lose our best player in the first-half. We were unlucky that our goalkeeper made mistakes that costed the result. We were so unlucky.
Today is about the tears, the pain, the sadness and disappointment. But I’m pretty sure that when the pain goes away, every time we think about this team and this season, it will bring a smile to our faces. Our guys gave everything for the red shirt, they did their best, I’m pretty sure of that. They did their best, but this time it wasn’t good enough.
We should be thankful to every one of these players. Karius, Trent, Lovren, Van Dijk, Robbo, Hendo, Gini, Millie, Mo, Sadio, Bobby, Lallana, Can, Clyne, Moreno, Migs, Matip, everyone. The moment they stepped on the pitch and represented us, they gave their best and gave us memories that will stay with us forever.
I don’t know if the piece is good and I don’t really care. This one is different from everything I’ve written before. I just wrote everything that popped into my mind and this reflects how I am feeling right now. I don’t know if I chose the correct words, because it is difficult when you’re sad or disappointed. I am hurt, obviously, but I am sure that once Liverpool is playing again, everything will get back to normal.
In the meantime, all we should do is feel proud, be thankful to this team and rejoice on the memories they created throughout this season. We will be back and we will be back stronger.
We should keep our heads up high because, at the end of the storm, there’s a golden sky.
The Final Whistle 