Growing up a huge Liverpool fan was great for me but it was always disappointing that tickets and travel for games was always so difficult to acquire, or too expensive. I dreamed of the days where I could drive and take myself and friends / family to the games, and where money wasn't an issue. Sadly, the fact is that unless there's a huge shift in the financial side of football, or my personal situation in terms of money and location changes, I'm stuck with making it as and when I can, which means very rarely these days.
One of my major ambitions, particularly following such amazing nights as at Anfield against Olympiakos, Barcelona, and the Chelsea games, was that I NEED to be at one of these games and experience that amazing atmosphere first hand. Sure I've been to Anfield and experienced a great atmosphere, sat on the Kop, and seen some great games, there's still a desire to make one of those magic nights that get remembered for years.
Technically, I achieved the original version of this target, set in 2005 to simply attend a home European tie. Following our amazing Champions League triumph in 2005, I went to 2 of the 3 qualifying rounds the following year, against T.N.S and FC Kaunas. But whilst these were decent games, and I witnessed an impressive Steven Gerrard hat trick, they weren't magic nights. I needed them to be bigger games, therefore the criteria changed to being full Champions League games, rather than just qualifiers. This was to taste the full atmosphere on a European night, which are aided by the fact that the ground is full of your cream of the crop LFC fans, rather than the ones (like myself?) who pick up tickets to the lesser and cheaper games, such as euro qualifiers...
After Athens in 2007, where I achieved a lifelong dream to attend a Liverpool European cup final, I became much more active in seeking tickets to the bigger games and connections made on my travels meant that it might not be too long before my dream European night was met.
In 2007/08, I thought my time had come when I secured tickets for Liverpool v Marseilles, my first Champions League proper game. The tickets were in the Anfield Road End and so the atmosphere wasn't quite as special and a 1-0 loss didn't make for the best experience, so I persevered. The next one was in the 8-0 annihilation of Besiktas. Whilst the game will be one remembered for many years, sat in the Main Stand, again, the atmosphere, though fantastic, still didn't have that electric feel to it. Yes, Liverpool needed to win the game to stay on course for qualification to the knockout stages but by the 5th or 6th goal, the feeling was more that of a walk in the park than a top European encounter.
The game needed to be bigger and so the criteria changed once again. A group game wasn't just going to be enough it needed to be knockout football. My next set of European tickets were against Benfica in the UEFA Cup Quater Finals against Benfica, which were followed up by Semi Final tickets against Atletico Madrid. These were in the 2009/10 season when we had seriously faltered in league and domestic cups and so this competition was the only potential saving grace to our season, but still, our priority maintained the chase for 4th place in the league to ensure Champions League football. This had an adverse affect on the games yet again as many regulars chose to stay away so the atmosphere were still great yet subdued. It was better for the Atletico game, especially experiencing the pre match atmosphere in the pub and around around the ground, certainly my best atmosphere since Athens but as we lost that game, I still feel that this target is yet to be completed.
So here are the criteria I believe would give me enough tk say, Yes, that was it!
- Home champions league game in the knockout stages, the later round, the better, I.e. Semi final. Preferably second leg too.
- Grand opposition
- Kop end
- Great game, great atmosphere
- Game winners
I think this would just about do it, topped off by possibly meeting someone like Man United in the next round / final!
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