Eight years ago today, Liverpool took on Real Madrid in the capital of Ukraine to contest the Champions League final.
Heartbreak, horror, and a hint of magic the 3-1 defeat in Kyiv had it all. It gave us the devastating blow of Mohamed Salah’s early injury, the jaw-dropping brilliance of Gareth Bale’s bicycle kick, and the deeply tragic unraveling of Loris Karius under the brightest lights in club football.
It was a chaotic, painful night, but it became the exact catalyst Liverpool needed to change forever.
Kopites travelled to Kyiv full of belief in the team Jurgen Klopp had assembled. While they didn’t get the reward at the end, the belief spiralled into the following season, which helped them conquer the world.
For the Reds is has become one of the most important matches in their modern history, as they did truly change from doubters to believers after that evening.
The journey was long, full of twists and turns, but the question changed from if to when regarding the squad and their silverware.
So here is a ReadLiverpoolfc looking back at the 2018 Champions League final.
Liverpool journey to Kyiv
Ahead of the 2017/18 campaign, the Merseyside outfit were no longer a side guaranteed Champions League qualification in the Premier League.
Since the 2010/11 season, they qualified just once in 2014/15, and were knocked out in the group stage. For a team which such rich history in Europe, it was far from ideal.
For the younger generation of Liverpool fans, they didn’t know what to expect from Anfield under a European night, as the days of Gerrard and Carragher in the mid 2000’s were now a long distance memory. The only real hint was the impressive run in the 2016 Europa League campaign, as they lost in the final to Spain side, Sevilla.
By this stage, there were a completely different side, built upon hard work, relentless pressing and flying forwards. Their front three of Mohamed Salah, Sadio Mane and Roberto Firmino became the talk of the continent, as they smashed their way through teams, which became further apparent in that year’s competition.
To give the club a greater chance, they signed Virgil Van Dijk halfway through the season from Southampton for £75 million, which at the time made him the most expensive defender. This move was met with a lot of anxiety if he would live up to the move; ultimately, he did.
They made easy work of the group stage, casting aside Sevilla, Spartak Moscow and Maribor, and in the Round of 16, a 5-0 win away at Porto, as Mane scored a hat trick, really helped them set their sights on the last eight of the competition, where they faced one of the best teams in the world in Manchester City. A 3-0 destruction at Anfield, followed up by a 2-1 win at the Etihad, booked their tickets to the semi-finals for the first time since 2008.
They took on Salah’s former club, Roma, and the Egyptian demonstrated why he was one of the best in the world under the lights at Anfield, as he scored a brace and set up two goals, as they cruised to a 5-2 victory. It was less straightforward at the Stadio Olimpico. Radja Nainggolan scored a penalty deep into added time to make it 7-6 on aggregate, though they held on and celebrated through the Italian streets.
In the final was the current Champions of Europe in Real Madrid, as they were looking to make it three in a row, though the arrogance existed within the Liverpool fanbase as they knew exactly how good this team was, and in a one-off match, anything could happen. Even with Karim Benzema and Cristiano Ronaldo, they had confidence as they headed to Eastern Europe.
A night of despair
The skies were full of red smoke, as the thousands who made their way to Ukraine gathered in the fanzone ahead of kick-off, celebrating their journey with flares, songs and booze. As they made their way to the NSC Olimpiyskiy, they couldn’t wait to see their team compete.
In the opening stages, Klopp’s troops were giving it their all and looked the better of the two sides up until the half-hour mark, as their Egyptian King stayed down after a challenge from Sergio Ramos. The Spaniard made a reckless decision to bring Salah down by the arm, and he was left in tears as he was forced to leave the field in the first half. They lost a spark in their team, one they couldn’t get back.
They headed into half-time even, though not for very long, as Loris Karius collected the ball and looked to play from the back, instead Benzema intercepted it and turned it into the empty net, leading to confusion for the Reds. The German was thankful to see Mane make up for his mistake as he turned home Dejan Lovren’s header. Though his misery would soon return.
Gareth Bale was introduced, and he scored one of the greatest goals a final will ever see, as a ridiculous bicycle kick looped over the head of Karius, and within the final ten minutes, he made it 3-1 as his long-range strike was fumbled through the keeper’s hands. Heartbroken, both the players and the fans, as it wasn’t their day.
The glory soon followed
Just a few days after the defeat, a video surfaced online of the Reds manager singing a song in his kitchen. “We saw the European Cup, Madrid had all the fucking luck, we swear we’ll keep on being cool, we’ll bring it back to Liverpool”. It wasn’t just the manager that was full of belief for the future, but surprisingly so where the Kopites.
The following season, the chance came again.
Liverpool finished on 97 points in the Premier League and still missed out on the title to City. It could have broken them, but the Champions League final against Tottenham gave them something to chase.
“We were that determined to go and win that Champions League because we knew that could be the start of our success,” Robertson said on the Overlap.
They saw their side fight and challenge with one of the greatest teams ever assembled, and if it weren’t for the freak injury to Salah, they might have gone all the way. The atmosphere changed around the club following that Champions League run, and it was soon a catalyst for success.
After striking down Barcelona in the greatest comeback Anfield has ever seen, they reached the final once again, where they played Spurs. Summer signings Fabinho and Alisson were stars in this new-look squad, and goals from the Egyptian and Divock Origi made it number six.
Everyone was in love with the team and the way they played, something they truly hadn’t seen before in the Premier League. The year after success in Europe, they went on to lift the league title for the first time in 30 years, ending that agonisingly long wait.
Liverpool had not been outclassed beyond recognition, but they had been shown the difference between a team arriving at the top and one comfortably on their perch.
Andy Robertson has since admitted that Liverpool were probably not ready for that final.
Speaking on The Overlap, he said: “Like in terms of, you know, mentally because the season before we got beat in the Champions League final against Real Madrid, realistically, we weren’t ready for that final. We were coming up against, you know, the old-timers of the Champions League.”
Since 2022, Liverpool have failed to reach the semi-finals of the competition, let alone a final, despite winning the Premier League last year.
To many Kopites, Europe is the be-all and end-all, the flag they wave so proudly being the most successful in England. There is hope they can return to the pinnacle of football so that night in Kyiv can be relieved with a new squad and a new head coach.
