‘The most heated stadium in Europe… the only place you don’t want to go is Anfield’: Arsene Wenger predicted Liverpool’s magical Champions League night BEFORE the first leg
- Arsene Wenger spoke about the powers of Anfield before the first leg in Spain
- Barcelona beat Liverpool 3-0 but already Wenger had spoken about a Reds win
- He said Anfield is ‘the only place you don’t want to go… the most heated stadium’
- Wenger was right as Liverpool overturned a 3-0 deficit to win 4-3 on aggregate
Arsene Wenger was perhaps the first pundit to predict Liverpool’s stunning comeback against Barcelona… insisting before the first leg that Anfield was ‘the most heated stadium in Europe’.
Pre-empting a huge Champions League night on Merseyside, the former Arsenal boss was insistent that Barcelona must get the job done at the Nou Camp to avoid a disaster in the second leg.
And it turns out the Frenchman was absolutely correct in his prediction, given that Liverpool turned around a 3-0 deficit from Spain to win 4-3 on aggregate.
Arsene Wenger spoke on beIN Sports about the powers of Anfield before the first leg in Spain
Liverpool produced a remarkable comeback to overturn the 3-0 first-leg deficit at Anfield
Speaking ahead of the first leg on beIN Sports, Wenger said: ‘Liverpool is strong where Barcelona is weak, for me. Because if you don’t score goals against Barcelona you’re guilty.
‘But Barcelona can score as well. That’s what we have to see tonight [the first leg].
‘Liverpool has another asset that comes out, because let’s not forget that Liverpool did not win the Championship for 30 years, but in Europe they do well. Why? Anfield.
‘A home game. This is the most heated stadium in Europe. In the return leg, the only place you don’t want to go is to Anfield.
Virgil van Dijk (right) celebrates with goalkeeper Alisson and defender Joe Gomez at full-time
‘Because the atmosphere and everything is special there. So I am keen to see what they do tonight.’
Barcelona did of course secure a 3-0 home victory, despite Liverpool’s impressive performance, but almost nobody could have anticipated what was to come a week later at Anfield.
Jurgen Klopp’s Reds made the perfect start with Divock Origi scoring early, before a quick brace from Georginio Wijnaldum turned the tie on its head and levelled things up at 3-3.
From there, Liverpool were in the ascendancy and Origi grabbed a second goal of his own, after brilliant quick thinking at a corner from Trent Alexander-Arnold, to complete the comeback and send Anfield wild.