The worm has turned but the football Gods are a fickle lot
Liverpool’s 98th season, and their 28th consecutive top flight appearance saw King Kenny, Ian Rush and the lads lift the trophy for the 18th time; crowned once again kings of English football. It was business as usual for the most part.
No one on that beautiful spring day in May foresaw the advancing shadows, storm clouds building on the horizon. A relentless ravaging storm that would haunt the Merseysiders and Anfield faithful for the next thirty years.
A dynasty in disarray, a steadily downward spiral decay, plagued by issues from every quarter of the beleaguered franchise. Many a Liverpudian grumbled emphatically, (myself included) that the football gods had abandoned them during this painfully miserable time. Alas, the football gods are indeed a fickle lot; just ask Manchester United, Arsenal or Chelsea.
Fast forward to the 2013-14 campaign, and Liverpool and their faithful following are poised to end their title drought, until Chelsea comes to Anfield in April. Then the Stevie G banana peel debacle and the chance is lost. Once again the football gods had turned their backs on the title challengers.
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Kiev 2018 Champions League final, Loris Karius bollocksed a couple of easy clearances in front of goal and the lads suddenly find themselves two goals down before halftime while having outplayed Real for most of that half. They would go on to lose that seminally decisive match 3-1.
I say seminally decisive because from that day forward Jurgen Klopp and his men have been on a mission. A mission to defy the humiliating apathy of the fickle football gods. (One learns more in a loss than in a victory)
The 2018-19 campaign saw the Reds close a twenty odd point gap between Manchester City from the year before (where they finished fourth in the PL). They challenged for the title up until the last match day in May, amassing a club record 97 points, falling one point shy of Guardiola’s City, a mere 11 cm all that separated the Reds from their long sought glory in the modern EPL.
But yet again they found little favor with the football gods. Nonetheless, they could not be denied their joy returning to a consecutive Champions League final in Madrid to correct the mistakes of the preceding final in Kiev.
We need to take a moment here to reflect on another seminal and defining match in Liverpool’s relentless pursuit of glory. In September 2017, City gave Klopp and the Reds a sound thrashing at The Etihad Stadium where they would ship five goals in a 5-0 thumping at the feet of Pep Guardiola’s squad.