When Liverpool won the corner towards the end of extra time that would prove decisive, Jurgen Klopp applauded and found himself smiling at the romance of it all. Depleted by a host of injuries, the manager had introduced a host of untested young players, yet here was his team, fighting to the last breath. They were the most dangerous in the extra period.
Klopp’s screenwriter still had something left, the detail to fuel his quest for four more trophies before riding off into the sunset at the end of the season. Substitute Kostas Tsimikas swung over the steps and there was Virgil van Dijk, running away from Axel Disasi, who was looking home. The Liverpool captain had a header disallowed in the second half of regular time after lengthy intervention by the VAR. On this occasion there was no denying him and his team.
Klopp’s smile was now something, the celebrations were wild after the whistle shortly afterwards, his punches at the Liverpool supporters were heavy with emotion and it was Mauricio Pochettino who had the red eyes, the bitter regret. The Chelsea manager had seen his team recover from a sloppy start to create chances to win in normal time. Conor Gallagher didn’t deserve to be on the losing team, and neither did Cole Palmer. But they were. There would be no triumph to fuel the Pochettino era.
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History was always going to be part of it, the bad blood that has bubbled between the clubs over the last twenty years, with the epic Champions League knockout matches of the mid-1990s and the previous six finals. , most of which are domestic.
The team news was also huge, especially from Liverpool’s perspective. Otherwise, if Pochettino continued to miss Reece James, it was his best available XI. Klopp, on the other hand, had counted eleven absentees, including some major absentees: Trent Alexander-Arnold, Mohamed Salah, Darwin Núñez.
Chelsea lacked conviction from the start. They looked nervous and made mistakes, while Liverpool moved smoothly as if to reinforce a theme. Many of their roles were different, but the patterns they had learned over the years under Klopp did not change. Chelsea measured the early runs in slips, loose touches and passes; desperate mistakes too. They would grow.
The moment they announced they were in the match came when they created the first clear chance after 21 minutes. The build-up was beautiful and when Gallagher hit a low cross and Raheem Sterling’s first touch was poor, the ball broke perfectly for Palmer. Caoimhín Kelleher brilliantly saved his shot from close range, with Wataru Endo leaping into a block to deny Nicolas Jackson the rebound. Klopp would always start Kelleher regardless of Alisson’s fitness.
It was entertaining, chock full of incident. VAR technology was used for the first time in this season’s competition and Moisés Caicedo was fortunate no action was recommended after he charged late into Ryan Gravenberch midway through the first half of normal time, causing the Liverpool’s ankle to break midfielder rolled terribly. Gravenberch left on a stretcher, with Joe Gomez coming on as right back and Conor Bradley moving into midfield. For a while it was Gomez versus Sterling, reviving memories of their failure in England.
Chelsea were a hair’s breadth away from taking the lead on the half hour, Jackson set up Sterling for the tap-in, but the centre-forward appeared to advance just too early on Palmer’s pass, while the assistant’s decision during the play was maintained by the midfielder. VAR.
Liverpool had their chances in the first half mainly through the ruthless Luis Díaz. He had two early tries and it was his clever passing that got Bradley into trouble in the 45th minute; when Bradley shot low, Levi Colwill made a huge block. Moments earlier, Cody Gakpo had risen to guide a header from an Andy Robertson cross against the post, with Djordje Petrovic on the ground.
The temperature rose. It was a moving sight. Chelsea might only have been able to score early in the second half if Enzo Fernández attempted a flashy backheel instead of a simple lay-off for the unmarked Palmer after a Gallagher cross. Fernández was completely wrong.
Then Liverpool thought they had broken the deadlock, red flares lighting up the scene behind the goal after Van Dijk had powered home from Robertson’s free-kick. However, VAR would see that Endo Colwill had blocked from an offside position. Colwill was part of the marking detail on Van Dijk.
Chelsea tried to make the most of their delay. It was no exaggeration to say they dominated until the end of normal time, throwing men forward and running on adrenaline. Disasi was flustered at the wrong time after Colwill glanced at a corner as Gallagher tapped Palmer’s cross into the far post.
Gallagher was everywhere, on a mission to make a difference, while Palmer’s smooth movements and silky touches were a sight to behold. Gallagher’s big chance came after 85 minutes. Portrayed by Palmer, he was one-on-one with Kelleher. The goalkeeper was quick to save, just as he did from Palmer and substitute Christopher Nkunku in the final knocks of normal time. Gallagher also had a shot off target. When he was pulled in overtime, he had nothing left to give.
Klopp’s substitutions underlined the pressure on his resources and his confidence in the club’s academy. He finished with Bobby Clark and James McConnell in eighth positions and Jayden Danns in ninth. Jarell Quansah would also play center in defense.
Liverpool pushed again into extra time. The depth of their determination was extraordinary. Danns, who had only ten minutes of first-team football before that, almost caught Petrovic with a header early on, while the Chelsea goalkeeper somehow kept out a Harvey Elliott header in the 115th minute. Penalties seemed inevitable. Van Dijk enters.