Liverpool have had some great comebacks in European competitions over the years and one of the best was all thanks to Steven Gerrard.
Remember, remember the fifth of November… then go backwards by a day. On November 4, 2010, Liverpool were a goal down to Napoli in the UEFA Europa League. Roy Hodgson made the decision to sub on Steven Gerrard and the manager has revealed how his captain changed the game.
Hodgson told Gary Lineker on The Rest is Football podcast: “He [Gerrard] had leadership qualities. He showed it incredibly one night, we were in that European cup competition and I was trying to rest players sometimes between the games.
“But we were playing Napoli to be fair. We beat them in Napoli, we were playing them in the return leg. But I still thought we were a goal up and we might get away with this, so I’ll leave a few players out.”
Despite Hodgson’s recollection of events, Liverpool only managed a draw in their away fixture against Napoli in Group K. He still made the decision not to start some first-team players and as a result, there were consequences.
“And of course that didn’t go very well,” Hodgson continued. “Put the squad players in and we were losing at half time.
The former Liverpool manager knew he needed to do something, so he brought on Gerrard, who went on to steal the show with his heroic performance.
Hodson said: “So I put Steven Gerrard on, he just changed the game. The game changed, we won it comfortably. So that’s what he could do.”
Lineker responded by calling Gerrard a ‘very, very special talent’, as the pair agreed that the midfielder certainly knew how to take a game by the scruff of the neck.
Gerrard cancelled out Ezequiel Lavezzi’s opening goal with just 15 minutes left in the game. He then scored a penalty kick which looked like it could be the match winner, only to score again a minute later to confirm the victory.
This was perhaps the most impressive Liverpool comeback in recent memory which was accomplished almost single-handedly. However, their unbelievable second leg showing against Barcelona in the 2018/19 Champions League semi-final definitely tops the greatest comebacks table for the team as a whole.
