The Pressure Is off as Liverpool Target “One of the Greatest Comebacks”

It feels not far off insurmountable, a three-goal deficit and no away goal. Hit Barcelona hard, though. Hit them hard and hit them early and grab a goal in front of the Anfield faithful. Do that and, well, you never know how the game will go.

“If we can put them under pressure and get the first goal then we’ll see how they react,” said Andy Robertson of Liverpool’s hopes. “We know the fans will react positively with us and they can hopefully have an impact on them.”

Liverpool’s luck in front of goal deserted them last week. By the chances they created, the match really should have ended 3-2 in favour of the hosts. In a way, though, that’s no so different from how things went against Bayern Munich.

Back in the Round of 16, Liverpool weren’t down to Bayern after the first leg—but they didn’t have the goals their chances said they should have. Then, in the second leg, they made up for it, outpacing their expected goals on the night.

On balance, across the two legs, it all evened out. Liverpool got the goals they deserved over 180 minutes and advanced because of it. So while Liverpool’s finishing ran cold last week, there’s nothing to say it can’t run hot here.

If it does, if they can get an early goal with Anfield growing in confidence behind them, then just maybe. A 3-0 deficit and no away goal seems a difficult task, perhaps even insurmountable. And it is difficult. But not insurmountable.

“Let’s just see what happens,” Robertson added. “We have no real pressure on us now, nobody expects us to do anything. But if we can then it will one of the greatest comebacks.”