Liverpool defender Josip Matip has recalled manager Jurgen Klopp‘s pre-match speech before their stunning Champions League semifinal win against Barcelona at Anfield.
3-0 down from the first-leg, Klopp insisted they could write a glorious chapter their grandchildren would one day read about.
“He told us we really had a chance, that we really could create something that we could tell our kids about in the future,” Matip recalled.
“We believed. The atmosphere was already crazy when we came into the stadium, even though everybody knew the first-leg result and who we were coming up against.
“The mood was good and it became better and better. It was just crazy. It was like a whole machine working there together – everyone, the players, the fans.”
Few argue it was the greatest ever performance from the Reds – given the power of the opponents and their seemingly impregnable lead – and Matip agrees.
“We were getting more and more speed with the game. With every goal, everybody became greedier – the whole stands, the players on the bench, the players on the pitch, it was crazy. Everyone became quicker, did everything better.
“On the pitch, it was really, really loud – you had to shout louder on the pitch, but in these kind of moments it wasn’t the worst problem to try to get over!
“Every goal was so important, but to score so early gave us more hope. If they’d kept a clean sheet for a long time, it would be a kind of mood killer, but with this goal we already gained more self-confidence and began to think we could get something.”
Matip added: “When Divock scored? It was crazy. I couldn’t believe it, I didn’t know what had happened because he (Trent) just put the ball in. I thought, ‘What is this?’ Then I saw Divock there and the ball in the net afterwards…
“I was a little bit confused, to be honest. But after a few seconds, everybody was celebrating so I just joined in!
“You couldn’t believe it, I would probably say it was the best moment in my time as a professional player because it was special.”
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