Tottenham and Liverpool clash in final after similar European campaigns

While they took opposite roads to reach the Champions League final, the manner in which Tottenham and Liverpool qualified are abound with similarity. 

Group Stage

The Lilywhites and Reds made it out of the group stage by the skin of their teeth, both needing favourable results on matchday 6 to advance.

Liverpool, thanks to a 34th minute winner by Mohamed Salah, edged Napoli 1-0 at Anfield. The Reds and Napoli finished level on nine points, but Liverpool took the tiebreaker, and with it, second place in Group C.

Spurs’ route into the Round of 16 relied on PSV Eindhoven’s help. Earning a 1-1 draw against Barcelona at Camp Nou, which coincided with a 1-1 stalemate between Inter and PSV in Italy, meant Spurs advanced. And like Liverpool, it was by way of the tiebreaker, as Tottenham and Inter finished level on eight points.

Round of 16

Spurs then faced Borussia Dortmund, who were first in the Bundesliga. Dispatching the German giants 3-0 at home left Dortmund in desperation mode in the second leg, which Tottenham controlled with aplomb. Harry Kane’s lone goal separated the teams on the night, with Spurs winning 4-0 on aggregate.

With similar results, but reversed in order, Liverpool, after a 0-0 first leg at Anfield, went to Munich and stunned the home side with a 3-1 victory. Spurs Round of 16 triumph against Dortmund was more impressive than Liverpool’s, but the Reds’ quarterfinal whitewash of Porto also earned them a blowout victory.

Quarterfinal

Goals galore, the only thing the two semifinals had in common. Tottenham’s 4-4 away goals win over Manchester City encompassed everything imaginable: a penalty, a disallowed goal, five goals in the first 21 minutes of the second leg and an emotional swing I thought would never be topped.

That line of thinking was quickly debunked, though, as the semifinal was even more dramatic.

Semifinal

The Champions League semifinal second legs have been dubbed as the most entertaining week ever in football.

Replete with immense displays, heroic performances, epic swings in emotion and momentum, both semifinals are now the stuff of Champions League legend. And both saw two of the greatest comebacks of all time.

Only ardent Reds supporters believed Liverpool had the pedigree and resilience to replicate the club’s performance in the 2005 Champions League final against AC Milan gave them a chance.

Down 0-3, Liverpool fought all the way back to send Barcelona packing, inflicting the exact same pain on the Catalans when they played Roma in last season’s campaign. Lightning, it seems, does strike twice.

So astonishing, I feel compelled to show the highlight package. No need to fret everyone, I don’t usually show non-Spurs highlights. Based on the remarkable circumstances, this is a one-off exception to that rule.

And then there’s our glorious Spurs coming back from the dead with less than 40 minutes to play. Down 0-3 on aggregate, Lucas Moura became a worldwide household name in a flash.

Spurs supporters knew he was capable of finishing clinically in bunches, as demonstrated by his hat trick against Huddersfield in April. But this was under astronomically different circumstances, on the world’s biggest stage, with his team on the verge of heartbreaking defeat.

Words can’t express how the second half transpired in Amsterdam, setting up a final for the ages.

And the similarities between finalists don’t end there. Liverpool and Tottenham both played their semifinals devoid of marquee forwards. Harry Kane was out for Spurs, while Mo Salah and Roberto Firmino, who also missed the first leg, weren’t available at Anfield.

Pochettino vs. Klopp

Since taking over their clubs, neither Mauricio Pochettino or Jurgen Klopp have won a trophy with their respective teams.

Klopp has an abysmal record in cup finals, losing seven of eight overall. He is 0-3 in European cup finals, including two losses with Liverpool. 

Pochettino hasn’t appeared in a final since taking the helm at Spurs in 2014. Hopefully he can add to Klopp’s European cup final misery.

Madrid is where the similarities end, as these two storied clubs collide head-on in a final where only one will sculpt their very own path to Champions League glory.