It looks like Liverpool are set to continue with their revival and this season they are back in the Champions League.
This is Brendan Rodgers’s third season as Liverpool manager and he has maintained his promise after the Reds secured a spot in Europe’s elite competition.
Last season, the target was to fight for fourth place and that was achieved with something to spare as Liverpool finished runners-up in the league behind champions Manchester City.
Rodgers’s tactics helped the team to make a remarkable transition. Rarely have we seen managers change philosophy and achieve so much in a short period of time.
Liverpool have evolved from a possession-hogging side into one of the most devastating counter-attacking teams in the English Premier League.
Favouring a 4-3-3 module, Rodgers also switches to a diamond formation when needed and his changes have worked on many an occasion.
He believes the club can still attract top players to Anfield after controversial striker Luis Suarez left for Barcelona this summer.
The arrivals of Adam Lallana, Dejan Lovren, Rickie Lambert, Lazar Markovic, Emre Can, Divock Origi, Javier Manquillo, Mario Balotelli and Alberto Moreno proved that the Reds are still a big attraction in European football.
“It’s a huge indication of the progress of the club, a really good symbol of where we are,” Rodgers was quoted as saying.
“Liverpool have made huge strides in the last couple of years. That ability to attract top players is great.”
Liverpool will be playing in the Champions League for the first time in four years, exactly on the 50th anniversary of their European debut.
Since then, the Reds have won five European Cups and three UEFA Cups, writing an illustrious history as the foreign adventures started with Bill Shankly as manager in August 17, 1964.
Liverpool’s opponents on that occasion were KR Reykjavik, of Iceland, in the European Cup.
The Reds won the match comfortably, 5-0.
Istanbul glory
When Liverpool made it a nap-hand of European titles in Istanbul nine years ago, they were not given a chance after going 3-0 down in the first half and Milan were already singing in their dressing room at the break.
But the shrewd words of Rafa Benitez gave Liverpool belief and in seven magical minutes, Milan were pegged back at 3-3 with goals from Steve Gerrard, Vladimir Smicer and Xabi Alonso.
The match went into a penalty shoot-out and Reds goalkeeper Jerzy Dudek repeated the per-formance of Bruce Grobbelaar against Roma in 1976 which left the Italians full of nerves.
The Reds won 3-2 from the spot-kicks (Hamann, Cisse, Smicer).
Line-up: Dudek, Finnan (Hamman), Traore, Alonso, Carragher, Hyypia, Garcia, Gerrard, Baros (Cisse), Kewell (Smicer), Riise.
Liverpool had claimed their first European Cup in 1977 after defeating Borussia Moenchen-gladbach in the final in Rome.
Bob Paisley’s men also wrote a great chapter in the glorious history of the club at the Olimpico, being crowned kings of Europe for the first time with a 3-1 win over the Germans.
After leading through a Terry McDermott goal, Allan Simonsen equalised in the second half.
Yet, the English team were not to be denied and they made their superiority count with goals from Tommy Smith and a Phil Neal penalty.
Line-up: Clemence, Neal, Jones, Smith, Kennedy, Hughes, Heighway, Callaghan, McDermott, Keegan, Case.