Liverpool vs Atletico is pure theatre but Klopp will always come out top

Liverpool vs Atletico Madrid is pure theatre but Jurgen Klopp will always triumph over Diego Simeone because of what he rejects.

The common thread running through this writing, is about dreams, and dreamers. One of the things that makes this sport so cool for me is when the teams march onto the field holding a little child’s hand.

It signifies a connection between current and future generations of the sport. Today’s dreamers, escorting tomorrow’s. Quite a simple gesture to be sure, but one with profound effect.

It is true that Jurgen Klopp is a dreamer, but so is Diego Simeone, make no mistake. When I sat down and planned out how I would take on this comparison and contrast of these two leaders, I had every intention to approach the assignment with the courage to present an unbiased yet unvarnished accounting.

The more I wrote, the more daunting I found this to be. I am biased, not so much by the cult of personality surrounding Diego and Jurgen. My bias falls on the side of ‘good’ sportsmanship, and a sincere respect for the game, a spirit of healthy competition; regardless how the scoreboard reads at the end. This is how my father taught me to play.

Winning isn’t everything. Is skewing the lines of good sportsmanship really the lesson we want to pass on to these kids? There is something to be said for virtue and the gallant approach.

Remember Klopp’s statement to his squad before the Barca semi-final last spring: “If we’re going to lose, then let us lose in the most beautiful way.”

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I do not hate Simeone, I don’t even know the man, in truth I don’t hate anyone. But I do not like what I see as his vulgar, cynical, disrespectful approach to good sportsmanship and the game. Which for me, is or should be at the very heart of any athletic competition. It is only a football game, after all.

I feel it’s important here to take a moment to tip my cap to Daniel Farke, and his Norwich City side. They sit bottom of the Premiere league table, 18 points; and very likely headed for relegation. They have played their hearts and guts out and given their all to this campaign.

But they have not changed their approach or playing style, they continue week in and week out to play their game, attacking and making a sincere (not cynical) effort of it. They will lose and go down for sure, but they have done so ‘beautifully.’ They have duelled with windmills.

I raise my pint high in their honor.

I see a strong similarity between theater and a football match. I spent several years working in theater, as a writer, actor, stage hand, and set designer. The thing that makes theater so unique is when the curtain goes up, you get one chance to hit your mark, there are no do-overs. C’est la vie.

Like theater, football has drama, comedy, tragedy, and once it has comes out onto the pitch, there are no do-overs. Zinédine Zidane can never take back his head butt at the World Cup. Steven Gerrard can’t replay his slip against Chelsea, Roberto Baggio can’t retake ‘that penalty kick’. Once played it stays forever. This is theater. Indeed, this is life.

So much happens behind the scenes of Saturday game days. Countless hours of training and recovery from injuries. The dedication and commitment of these athletes to play at a world class level is beyond the ken of most of us.

All we get to see is the final product, when the curtain goes up. As with any good play in the theater, there is a protagonist (hero, heroine) and an antagonist or villain. Without this basic contrast the exercise becomes pointless. It is a reflection of human life and interaction. Football is nothing less.

So there must be a counterpoint to the game, a hero and villain if you will. And no one in the game embodies this dichotomy like Simeone. This is life, this is football.

This is another reason I chose to isolate Don Quixote for this comparison between Diego and Jurgen. Football is theater. Whether it is good theater or not, is up to all of us.

“And the world will be better for this

That one man scorned and covered with scars

Still strove with his last ounce of courage

To fight the unbeatable foe

To reach the unreachable star”*

Man of La Mancha – Broadway 1965

I dedicate this to my father, who taught me how to play the game.

Words by Paul Landwehr.