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You couldn’t have kept this a secret in those days, but how he did it at the time is still a mystery.
It is Liverpool vs Roma, March 2002, and when the Champions League had two organizational stages.
The Reds had sailed the first, but hadn’t won after five games of the second, drawing 4 of them to at least get a shout. A muffled scream, but a scream anyway.
Fabio Capello’s Roma enters, the champion of Italy and a team that, having finished qualifying by beating Barcelona 3-0 in the previous group
Everything Capello, Gabriel Batistuta, Francesco Totti and the Romans had to do so as not to waste two net goals at Anfield and they would have passed, well yes, you know what happened next, we wouldn’t be talking about it here if we didn’t. .
But while now all these things from the famous European night on the field can be tried, tested and a little boring for some given Jurgen Klopp’s recent successes, it’s still pretty new for a new generation of Liverpool enthusiasts at the beginning of this century.
Before the 2000/01 season, all European successes were on the books, but when Gerard Houllier’s team won the UEFA Cup to win it into a League Cup, an FA Cup and probably the three most sensible, then everything changed.
Then he threatened to give in in in the most devastating way.
News that Houllier had been transferred to the hospital with a serious challenge at the center at half-time from an attack opposing Leeds in October 2001 shattered Anfield. play Snake, the wrong information spreads quickly.
Fortunately, the life of the Liverpool technician was stored after a complex operation, and thus began an era of convalescence in which he was in normal contact with his assistant, Phil Thompson, who had taken the reins.
Houllier spent much of his time desperate to return, but Thompson played admirably instead, although a number of persistent effects in December and January seriously curbed hopes for names.
Things began to go on in the new year, and the Reds were on their way before the visit of Rome, however, many expected the amazing delight of the Italians to prevail, especially with the absence of star striker Michael Owen.
Then it happened.
Just before the start, there was a commotion near the tunnel, and Houllier left to be greeted through a warm embrace of a radiant Capello.
The four sides of Anfield took a while to realize it was him, but soon his call bounced off the walls. He returned after a five-month absence.
Appearing thinner and a little overwhelmed, Houllier was in his mansion. The feeling that Liverpool would actually now do the decent thing has invaded everyone, adding to Rome.
And it took seven minutes.
Danny Murphy had stumbled into the area allowing Jari Litmanen to return from the penalty spot, with Houllier keeping calm in failure as chaos swirled around him.
The moment came just past the hour mark, with Murphy’s spinning loose kick going through the emphatic peak of Emile Heskey’s header in the Kop finale.
Two-nothing, exactly the score Liverpool needed.
“If I had let other people know two days before I returned, all the articles would have been about me and my illness, my return, I didn’t need that,” Houllier said this year.
“I was looking for everyone to focus on the match against Rome because we had to win 2-0. “
And that’s what they did.
Liverpool qualified him for the quarter-finals, with a reserved Houllier radiant in the final beep.
Did the resolution to return take a little hasty?Was he healthy enough? In truth, it had probably gotten to the point where no one was going to stop it.
“All I have is that when I went out on the field, no one knew Capello saw me and hugged me for a long time,” Houllier continued.
“Later, ‘I knew when you came back here, it would be difficult. ‘
Difficult for him, tingling for those who were there.
Houllier’s secret return will never be forgotten.