Liverpool have reached the Champions League final for a second successive year after completing a stunning comeback against Barcelona at Anfield.
Jurgen Klopp’s side had a mountain to climb after suffering a 3-0 defeat in the first leg of their semi-final tie at Camp Nou last week.
But Divock Origi gave Liverpool the perfect start to build momentum in the return leg by opening the scoring after just seven minutes as he pounced on Jordan Henderson’s rebounded shot from close range.
Liverpool continues to press for a second goal and were the more dominant side, while Luis Suarez angered the fans who once supported him with another antagonising display and even attracted chants of ‘f*** off, Suarez’ from the Anfield faithful on several occasions during the first half.
Klopp’s side made a bright start to the second half and were rewarded in the 54th minute as Georginio Wijnaldum, who replaced Andy Robertson at half-time after his clash with Suarez, fired home Trent Alexander-Arnold’s deflected cross.
Liverpool’s supporters were barely given time to catch their breath as Wijnaldum scored his second of the game two minutes later to level the tie as met Xherdan Shaqiri’s pinpoint cross with a sublime header to beat Marc-Andre ter Stegen.
And Liverpool’s superb turnaround was complete with 11 minutes remaining as Alexander-Arnold showed an excellent piece of sharp thinking to take a quick corner to catch Barcelona unaware and Origi steered an excellent finish into Barca’s net.
Liverpool, who were beaten by Real Madrid in last year’s final, will now face either Tottenham or Ajax in this year’s final in Madrid on June 1.
