LIVERPOOL’S emphatic Champions League triumph over Manchester City rates as one of their greatest European nights.
The Reds left Pep Guardiola’s Premier League champions-elect with a massive 3-0 deficit to overhaul in next week’s quarter-final second leg.
But just how good was their performance?
Here, SunSport runs the rule over eight comparable Liverpool displays on the European stage at Anfield:
1965 – Liverpool 3, Inter Milan 1 (European Cup semi-final, first leg)
Arguably the greatest performance of Bill Shankly’s Anfield reign.
Liverpool Transfer Stories
Roger Hunt scored after just three minutes only for Alessandro Mazzola to reply seven minutes later.
But Ian Callaghan made it two before the break and Ian St John wrapped up the victory in the 75th minute in front of a crowd of 54,082.
GRIEZY STREET Juve join Man Utd and Barcelona in chase for Antoine Griezmann
In the second leg Liverpool were cruelly beaten in extra-time.
All was lost when Libuda’s shot hit the bar and rebounded off the unfortunate Ron Yeats and into the net.
1976 – Liverpool 3, Bruges 2 (Uefa Cup final, first leg)
Liverpool were two down after just 12 minutes, forcing boss Bob Paisley into tactical meltdown at half-time.
He brought on midfielder Jimmy Case for target man John Toshack, on the face of it a strange decision.
But, amazingly, three goals from Alan Kennedy, Case and a Kevin Keegan penalty in the 59th, 61st and 65th minutes turned things around.
The Reds went on to draw the second leg 1-1 and land Paisley his first Euro trophy.
1977 – Liverpool 3, St Etienne 1 (European Cup quarter-final second leg)
The Reds clinched the tie 3-2 on aggregate thanks to ‘supersub’ David Fairclough’s late strike.
Keegan got the night started with a second minute opener but it took Liverpool until the 59th minute for Ray Kennedy to add the second.
Things had got very nervy following Dominque Bathenay’s 51st minute leveller that put the French visitors on course for the semi-final before the home side rallied.
1991 – Liverpool 3, Auxerre 0 (Uefa Cup second round, agg. 3-2)
Only 23,094 fans were at Anfield for this one as so little was expected from Graeme Souness’s lads.
But Liverpool scored twice in the first half hour through Jan Molby and Mike Marsh, and Mark Walters fired in the winner with seven minutes to go.
2004 – Liverpool 3, Olympiakos 1 (Champions League group stage)
The Reds conceded an away goal to Rivaldo, meaning they had to score three times themselves to progress from the group.
Florent Sinama Pongolle converted Harry Kewell’s cross before Neil Mellor stabbed in from six yards.
Then Mellor teed up Gerrard to lash in from 25 yards to win the tie in brilliant style.
Gerrard fired in a thrilling drive past Nikopolidis’ despairing dive to sent the crowd into raptures.
2005 – Liverpool 2, Juventus 1 (Champions League quarter-final, first leg)
This was the first time the clubs had met since the Heysel Stadium disaster.
There was a minute’s silence following the death of Pope John Paul II.
Liverpool had the inexperienced Scott Carson in goal and Anthony Le Tallec in midfield.
Sami Hyypia’s left-foot shot put Liverpool ahead and Luis Garcia’s superb strike doubled the lead.
Fabio Cannavaro headed Gianluca Zambrotta’s cross as Carson, playing just his third first-team game, let a downward header slip from his grasp.
2007 – Liverpool 1, Chelsea 0 (Champions League semi-final, second leg)
Daniel Agger scored the goal that levelled the tie and sent a pulsating encounter into extra time.
How to win £1MILLION with Sun Six
SUN SIX is the new predictor game where you can win £1million – just by correctly picking the results of six games.
Here is how to get your mitts on the million:
- Make your picks – predict the scores from these six games
- Enter your details – quickly sign up to Sun Bets so we can contact you
- Score £1m – Watch the scores roll in and you can win £1m
Top pundits IAN WRIGHT and DANNY HIGGINBOTHAM have made their picks for this week if you need a steer.
And remember, you can claim a free £30 bet with Sun Bets when you sign up put a tenner on this weekend’s football here.
After 210 minutes of the total tie it came down to penalties and Dirk Kuyt stroked home the winning spot kick as Rafa Benitez put one over Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho.
2008 – Liverpool 4, Arsenal 2 (Champions League quarter-final, second leg)
Breathless… and then some.
MOST READ IN FOOTBALL
A fabulous quarter-final swung this way and saw Sami Hyypia equalise Abou Diaby’s goal to make it 2-2 on aggregate.
Then after a Fernando Torres goal, Emmanuel Adebayor looked as though he was taking the Gunners through on away goals after a brilliant Theo Walcott run.
Seconds later Kolo Toure felled Ryan Babel and Steven Gerrard scored from the spot before Babel raced clear in stoppage time to cap a brilliant night for the home side win.
Leave a comment