There is no doubt that Liverpool is still plagued by the Old Trafford cup-related curse.
But despite all the discussion about omens and portents, which meant that the weight of history was always against the Reds winning here – it would have been the first away victory in knockout tournaments against Manchester United in more than a century – it is not the past that has put an end to the aspirations of a quadruple.
The fact of the matter is that Liverpool was nearly fully responsible for their elimination from the FA Cup quarterfinals.
This game was won by Jurgen Klopp’s team on multiple occasions, but they extended an invitation to Manchester United to push their way back into the tie.
This made the game significantly more exciting than it should have been at any point in time.
Of course, there was a terrible first quarter in which United surprised the visitors by attacking them from the moment the whistle blew.
This was a weird and unexpected turn of events. But Liverpool’s dominance for a good half-hour in the second half highlighted the vast chasm of skill that has been visible between the two clubs throughout the Premier League this season.
Liverpool went into the halftime break with a 2-1 lead over their opponent.
On the other hand, the third goal did not come about, and this may have been due to a lack of care with some finishing, good goalkeeping by Andre Onana, or, dare I say it, a touch of complacency.
It was during this time when Klopp’s substitutions most of the time caused Liverpool to move backwards rather than forwards.
Cody Gakpo was nowhere near as effective as Mohamed Salah, Conor Bradley had a difficult time up against Alejandro Garnacho, and Harvey Elliott could point to scoring the third goal, but he lost the pass that lead to United’s late winner. All of these players were having a difficult time.
In addition, the manner in which a number of Liverpool players experienced significant exhaustion during the extra time period will undoubtedly result in critics pointing the finger at the number of minutes that were played by certain players during the Europa League match against Sparta Prague on Thursday.
Due to United’s lack of success in Europe this season, they were given an entire week to prepare, and in the end, it was evident that they were not prepared.
In point of fact, as Klopp later admitted, this was one game too far for a team who, while being plagued by injuries – Ibrahima Konate was not available for this match – had managed to keep themselves competitive on four different fronts.
Naturally, for Liverpool fans of a particular era, the experience of losing an FA Cup match at Old Trafford in the final minute after having led for significant portions of the game could not have been considered anything out of the ordinary. For a very long time, the memories of 1999 have remained.
Nevertheless, despite the fact that they were unable to have a great deal of complaints on that particular day, Liverpool’s predominant feeling as they made the short journey down the M62 will not have been disappointment but rather regret.
This is something that should not have occurred, even if evidence from the past suggested that it was a distinct possibility.
Klopp will not make any more appearances at Wembley Stadium in his capacity as manager of Liverpool.
