It’s been almost four years. Liverpool Football Club has been starved of dining at Europe’s top table. Ever since that home defeat to Fiorentina in the December cold of 2009, Liverpool have never been close to the Champions League. It can be argued that with it started the fall of England as the top boys of Europe, although Chelsea did manage to pull of an outrageous win last season in the unlikeliest of circumstances.
Liverpool were the dominant force in Europe and led the English charge in the Champions League in the late noughties. In the period between Liverpool’s dramatic Champions League win in Istanbul in 2005 and Liverpool’s group stage exit in the 2009-10 season, English clubs made the semi final 10 times in 4 seasons, a phenomenal record. And not to mention the 5 final appearances. And ever since the 2009-10 season till the just concluded 2012-13 season, there were only 2 semi final appearances. The facts are there for all to see. The fall of England’s top clubs has never been so pronounced.
By the end of the 2008-09 season, Liverpool were the highest ranked English team in Europe and were second overall, behind only Barcelona of Spain. It is said that Liverpool played the best football in Europe at the time, mixing defensive discipline with clinical counter attacking football, earning plaudits from all and sundry. Liverpool made it to one final, two semis and one quarter final between 2005 and 2009. The 2-1 victory over Barcelona at Camp Nou, the 1-0 win at the Bernabeu, the 4-0 thrashing of Real Madrid at Anfield, the 2-0 defeat of Inter at San Siro, were the moments which saw the club at their best, dominating Europe, at the pinnacle of Europe.
As Liverpool bade goodbye in the group stages of the 2009-10 season, their season took a turn for the worse. The finished a paltry 7th in the league, their lowest ever position under Rafael Benitez. Liverpool, after a highly promising 2008-09 season where they fell short of the title by only 4 points, were hotly tipped as favorites for the league the following season. But boardroom troubles and mistakes in the transfer market saw the club literally implode, taking two steps backward instead of a step forward.
As Rafa Benitez got sacked, Liverpool were in crossroads with no Champions League football for a season atleast. Liverpool were stuck with the orthodox, old school Roy Hodgson and struggled to meet expectations. On the European front, English clubs’ influence started to wane, although Manchester United did make the final where they ultimately lost, there was no other semi final entrant. With the demise of Liverpool came the rise of sleeping giants in Bayern Munich and Real Madrid. The impact English clubs had on the Champions League never remained the same after the 2008-09 season, the last time when Liverpool managed to make it out of the group stages.
Theoretically, it has got nothing to do with Liverpool’s absence and more to do with the fallen standards in general of English clubs. But the presence of a fabled club, a dormant giant, a great club and one of the few clubs to have the UEFA badge of honour is enough to shift the tides and send a chill down the spine of opponents. UEFA Champions League has badly missed Liverpool all these years, with clubs like Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester City not having a big enough halo to strike fear into opponents. Being newcomers to the competition, clubs don’t get easily bogged down by the prospect of facing them as they would have done if they had faced Liverpool.
Manchester City have exited the competition in the group stages for the past two years and Tottenham Hotspur, who broke the infamous big four hegemony in England, were brushed aside too easily by Real Madrid 5-1 on aggregate when the sides met 3 years ago. With Liverpool, such one sided encounters with fellow European giants are seldom seen. The mere presence of the once mighty Liverpool is enough to bring a different feel to the Champions League, the big European nights at Anfield are moments to savor and European football in general has faced this drought for far too long. The present state at Liverpool suggest that the club are in a transition period and it may be years before they can make that big push up to the European top flight. But till then, the UEFA Champions League will be a poorer place without one of its evergreen champions.
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I realy do miss liverpool in the champions leagues, it was the most exciting team to watch thrashing poor and huge teams ruthlessly., with no even a little mercy.. for sure we were the kings the europe. YWNA LIVERPOOL, ONE WE WILL BACK TO TAKE OVER OUR THRONE
U rite we will return to cl but it will take time to reach a final. After some time we can attract top players who will guide lfc to cl glory. Brendan will get us there in time. ROME WAS NOT BUILT IN A DAY. YNWA.
LFC maybe battling at the moment but when u look at their European success it gives u goosebumps.
Liverpool will bounce back to claim their lost position in Europe.
UEFA misses Liverpool UCL. Some might be proud to say, they have pushed Liverpool from top four of EPL but not a single club can repl ace Liverpool at UCL as the most successful of English teams even if they deny it. Other teams in UCL misses YNWA sung with pride and passion before, during and after games.Teams like Real,Milan may have won more but they simply couldn’t match the thrill and excitement Liverpool create. Others can say there are places of dreams but theres only one place to see miracles and magic…ANFIELD.
“Another europeaan night at anfield” comentries wld say
another 1 wld say ” wat an atmosphere to play european football. This is the complex of anfield”
two things miss each other: ucl misses liverpool n liver misses ucl.
I witnessed man u supporters telling themselves that ucl without liverpool isnt interesting.
Have less worry we will be there next season
NYWA
Yeah Liverpool has been missed in UCL, no doubt about it. But the question now is when can they make that big return.
#Ahmad zaki, I love what u said…..UCL misses Liverpool and Liverpool misses UCL! That’s a pure fact. We’ll soon be back, its just a matter of time. YNWA