So I wrote a blog about the 2019 Champions League final (still European Cup to me) because I was incensed – like Salah I will always remember that final for Ramos rather than Karius or Bale. And I wrote a blog about the 2020 Champions League final, because we won.
I’m still not sure what to think about the match in 2022. Apart from the disappointment at the Real Madrid goal, the moment I will remember most involves Salah. After we were one down he produced an outstanding piece of skill, taking down a long pass with imperious precision, charging in towards goal despite the close attention of the defender, putting in a shot while running at full pace – and seeing it saved by the outstretched arm of Courtois, Madrid goalkeeper and man of the match, making on of his nine saves. Salah dropped to the ground and beat the pitch in frustration. We both sensed, at that moment, that it was not to be. Especially as it came after the seeming tap-in at the far post for Salah which was blocked by Courtois sprinting the length of his goal.
But, the lasting memory of this final will probably be the chaos around the organisation by UEFA and the French authorities, bringing unwelcome echoes of Heysel and Hillsborough. At least in the age of social media you didn’t feel that the delay really was because of an actual disaster, rather than mere incompetence, but this is the fourth European final involving Liverpool fans which has had avoidable or predictable problems, which the authorities have not dealt with, following Rome in 1984, Heysel in 1986 and Athens in 2007.
The disappointment of losing the final in Paris was slightly compensated for by the size and fervour of the victory parade, to show off the FA and League Cups, in Liverpool less than 24 hours later. As Andy Robertson said: “When you don’t win the final you worry about how you’ll be received, how many people will show up. That was in the back of our minds. But my god, what a turnout. Like I said best fans in the world.”
When I Grow Up I Will Go There 