Five of Liverpool’s best Anfield comebacks | OneFootball

Liverpool welcome Tottenham Hotspur to Merseyside this evening in the Carabao Cup semi-finals.

Trailing 1-0 from the first leg, the Reds will require another comeback on home soil to progress to the decider. Liverpool are no strangers to comebacks at Anfield, with the famous ground the scene for some stunning turnarounds.

Ahead of their semi-final showdown tonight, we’ve remembered five of Liverpool’s greatest comebacks at Anfield.

Five of Liverpool’s best Anfield comebacks

Liverpool 3-2 Club Brugge – UEFA Cup final (April 28, 1976)

A clash often lost to the archives given what has come since, but one of the early episodes of Anfield turnarounds.

Liverpool met Club Brugge in the 1976 UEFA Cup final, with the decider staged over two legs. The first meeting at Anfield could hardly have started worse for the Reds, as the visitors raced into a two-goal lead inside 15 minutes.

With the away goals rule in play, Liverpool had a mountain to climb to rescue the tie. However, a stirring second-half fightback turned the game around. Ray Kennedy’s thumping strike kickstarted a stunning six-minute spell, that saw Jimmy Case and a Kevin Keegan penalty complete the comeback.

Keegan scored again in a 1-1 draw in the return leg as Liverpool lifted the trophy.

Liverpool 3-1 Saint-Etienne – European Cup (March 16, 1977)

Saint-Etienne remains a sliding doors moment in Liverpool’s proud history of European success.

Having lifted the UEFA Cup the previous season, Liverpool’s hopes of adding a maiden European Cup to their trophy cabinet looked in real jeopardy in the third round. After a narrow first-leg defeat in France, Kevin Keegan’s second-minute goal levelled the tie after two minutes at Anfield. However, a Saint-Etienne strike made it 2-1 on aggregate and – with an away goal – Liverpool needed to score twice.

The Ligue 1 side had conceded just once in their previous nine European games but surrendered to the home side’s pressure. Ray Kennedy brought Liverpool back into the aggregate contest before super-sub David Fairclough sealed his place in Anfield folklore. The Scouse striker raced onto a hopeful pass to roll in an 84th-minute winner and set the Reds on route to their first European Cup success. A win over Borussia Monchengladbach in the final crowned Liverpool the continent’s finest for the first time.

Liverpool 3-1 Olympiacos – Champions League (December 8, 2004)

Steven Gerrard produced no shortage of rescue-acts in a red shirt and the captain’s Roy of the Rovers moment against Olympiacos remains one of his best.

Liverpool went into their final group game needing to beat the Greek side by two goals. An already difficult task soon became harder when Rivaldo’s deflected free-kick handed the visitors a half-time lead at Anfield.

Rafael Benitez rolled the dice. His substitutes, Florent Sinama-Pongolle and Neil Mellor, scored off the bench to set up a grandstand finish.

Then came Gerrard’s moment.

Mellor’s cushioned header dropped for the Liverpool captain who thundered in a half-volley to send the Reds into the next round.

A memorable moment in its own right, but with Liverpool going on to win the Champions League that season, it’s cemented in the Anfield annuals.

Liverpool 4-3 Borussia Dortmund -Europa League (April 14, 2016)

Jurgen Klopp met his former side in the Europa League during the 2015/16 season and it was a clash not lacking in entertainment.

After a 1-1 draw in Germany, Dortmund dismantled Liverpool across the opening exchanges at Anfield. Goals from Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang inside the first 10 minutes left the Reds needing three goals to progress.

Divock Origi brought hope to the hosts, but a sucker punch from Marco Reus meant Liverpool still needed three goals with just 24 minutes to play.

Philippe Coutinho gave Liverpool a glimmer of hope before Mamadou Sakho scored as Liverpool poured forward. As Dortmund retreated late on, Dejan Lovren’s header handed Liverpool an unforgettable win in the 91st minute.

Liverpool 4-0 Barcelona – Champions League (May 7, 2019)

Even amid an archive of classic comebacks, there has perhaps not been one quite like this.

Liverpool looked all but out as Barcelona arrived at Anfield in May 2019, with the Catalans boasting a 3-0 lead in their Champions League semi-final. Lionel Messi’s masterclass had put the Spaniards in control, while Liverpool’s chances of a comeback were further diminished by the absence of Roberto Firmino and Mohamed Salah from the side.

But on an extraordinary night arrived unlikely heroes. Divock Origi’s early goal lifted the Anfield atmosphere, but the Reds still required three goals at half-time.

Georginio Wijnaldum’s introduction at the break lit the touchpaper. The Dutch midfielder scored twice in a frantic three-minute spell to level the tie and leave Barcelona shellshocked.

There was time for one more dramatic twist, however, as Origi completed the comeback. Trent Alexander-Arnold’s quickly-taken corner picked out the Belgian, left unattended by a Barcelona team still catching their breath. A first-time finish sent Liverpool into the final, where Spurs were beaten to seal a sixth European crown.

Read – Champions League Nights: Gerrard rescues Reds on path to Istanbul

See more – Iconic Duos: Gerrard and Torres – Liverpool’s lethal pairing

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